Access to democracy should be all-inclusive

In one of your recent editorials, you posed a question, "What is the benefit to democracy of increasing voter turnout if those added voters in large part may be uninformed?" You continue on to imply that those "uninformed" voters are willfully not discharging their right and duty to vote.

We would never dismiss our youth as "uninformed" because they have spent fewer years reading the news or engaging in civic life. Nor would we deny our seniors access to the polls because they might have limited mobility or require assistance at the polls.

We all can agree that democracy is a learning process, one that should be welcoming, inclusive and supportive of every citizen's participation, even if some need more assistance or others may be new to civic life.

This is what it means to be a "new American" as well. Let us give the same encouragement and courtesy to our immigrant communities as we do others.

Kathleen Yang-Clayton

Asian-Americans Advancing Justice

Chicago