To the Editor:
I voted by mail last month. I tracked my ballot until it was recorded — no muss, no fuss. Still, it just did not feel right. I felt unfulfilled, unsatisfied.
Voting in person, you go to the polling place, greet neighbors and poll workers, show ID, receive your ballot, then go to a booth and mark it. Emerging from the polling place, I always felt a sense of pride, of accomplishment, of fulfillment of civic duty.
Voting by mail was safer: no mask, no social distancing, no Covid. But, as with so much in 2020, it sure felt different.
John M. Dederer
Ormond Beach, Fla.
To the Editor:
Re “Why Do Republicans Fear Voters?” (editorial, Nov. 2):
Was there ever a time in the history of our nation when a political party devoted so much energy to preventing people from voting? We have, as far back as I remember, bemoaned low voter turnout and done everything possible to encourage political engagement at the polls. But the Republican Party is strategizing every devious method possible to keep Democrats from voting, and, if that fails, to make sure their votes are not counted. Shame!
Nina Miller
Ithaca, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Re “When Will You Know? Depends on Your State” (The Upshot, Oct. 31):
The article lists how the 50 states differ regarding voting rules: the various times the polls close, the types of ballots reported first, whether postmarked ballots can arrive later and whether those who request a mail ballot but vote in person can cast a provisional ballot.
Why have this needless complication? Would it be asking too much to have uniform regulations for all the states in national elections?
John Willenbecher
New York
To the Editor:
Generally, elections are about politics — economic, societal and foreign relations issues. This election is not about politics. It is about an individual’s belief system and ethics.
It is for this reason, unlike in other elections, that families and couples are breaking apart over this vote. They are not separating because of different politics. They are separating because this election is about openly declaring an individual’s moral stance.
Al Hillel
Seattle
To the Editor:
I live in red-state Alabama and vote Democratic. My vote for president and vice president gets thrown out by the Electoral College. My vote doesn’t count. I don’t count.
I don’t have many years left, but my fervent hope is to have a Democratic president with a majority of Democrats in the House and the Senate who will work to get an amendment passed to eliminate the Electoral College. Then I would count. My vote would count.
Norma Griinke
Fort Payne, Ala.
To the Editor:
In future discussions of the current state of affairs, one question could sum it all up: What the hell has this country come to when a front-page headline in The New York Times on Election Day says, “Trump Contests Some Ballots, Setting Up Fight Over Which Ones Count”?
Lyn Chambers
Palo Alto, Calif.