Letters to the editor for Sept. 25
Volunteer for the USPS
Does the United States Postal Service accept volunteers? If so, America, we need to get down to our local post office and help them deliver the mail. If we’re going to have to govern ourselves, we had best get busy. Let’s save our election process. My God, let’s save something!
Patricia Simpson, Olympia
Ballot ‘security sleeve’ threatens anonymity
The recent tizzy over ballot security has always struck me as a tempest in a teapot. That is, until I prepared my Thurston County ballot for the Aug. 4 primary.
The new open-ended security sleeve, instead of a sealable envelope, seriously compromises the anonymity of our ballots. I don’t know if this is a statewide change, but it needs to be dropped. The person who opens the outer envelope should not be able to see or replace the ballot. Even an automatic system would not do. There must be an assured way of completely anonymizing the ballot.
I suspect that the change was made to make the count more efficient and faster. The added efficiency is not worth the risk. The added speed is not required. There is absolutely no requirement that a vote count needs to be done the night of an election. Everybody, including the media, can just delay their gratification like adults and wait for the counting process to complete.
Edwin J. Pole II, Lacey
Complacency will be costly
I fear that people are taking Washington’s blue streak for granted. They may be wrong. The R’s turned out 2-to-1 for voting in the primary and point of fact did better than even their leaders expected. I expect the same level of turnout in the general election.
Look around and note that gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp is getting a lot of support well evidenced by the signs in Thurston County alone. Assuming Washington is a blue state and will remain so may be a costly assumption.
Many voters are angry because of Inslee’s perceived inconsistent shut downs of various businesses. He has failed to hold anyone accountable for the loss of $350 million-plus of unemployment to foreign scammers.
R’s will turn out to vote to repeal the requirement to teach sex education in schools even though critics have misrepresented what the law requires. Voters are upset with schools being shut down. The current opponent to the state Superintendent of Public Instruction is running capitalizing on that issue and the sex ed one.
Furthermore, Trump and his ilk are experts at exploiting fears, promoting false narratives on the extent of looting and destruction. And he points to Seattle as an example.
All of these facts will mobilize voters.
Meanwhile, the D’s seem to take victory for granted. I hope they are right but. ...
Fred Yancey, Olympia
Pandemic’s unintended consequences
On May 13, my husband was admitted to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia after he became seriously ill while undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. One month later while still in the intensive care unit, my husband of 53 years lost his courageous, lonely battle. I was not allowed to be with him for the final month of our marriage and his life. He did not have COVID-19.
The medical literature is full of studies documenting the benefits of family in the ICU for health benefits to patients and support for the medical treatment team.
Despite the excellent medical care given my husband, the rigid, pandemic-related no-visitors policy for patients in the ICU had a traumatic effect on him and our family. One of his doctors tried to get an exception to this policy. The hospital did finally change their policy to allow at least one family member to be present, but unfortunately, too late for my husband.
It is time for hospitals and administrators to better balance visitation policies designed to benefit seriously ill patients with precautions to prevent the spread of contagious disease. Like the hospital Patient Pamphlet states: “We understand the importance of family presence for patients to provide comfort and ease their way while in the hospital.”
Maxine Williams, MSW (retired), Lacey