An Elgin letter to the editor: My comments are in response to a column written by the Rev. Clyde Brooks in the Daily Herald on Aug. 13.

My comments are in response to a column written by the Rev. Clyde Brooks in the Daily Herald on Aug. 13.

The Rev. Brooks references the Voting Rights Act passed 55 years ago giving all people, including Blacks, the right to vote without interference. He claims that even though 55 years have passed, there still is discrimination against Blacks in regards to voting.

He lists the following as proof that whites are still obstructing Blacks from voting:

Tampering with the census. I fail to see how any census tampering, if it exists, can have any effect on voting. No one is going to ask a Black voter if they participated in the census and based on their answer, whether they can vote or not. A non-issue.

Postal service possibly slowing down mail-in voting. If it does happen, it will include both Black and white voters. A non-issue.

He goes on to say, "A particularly egregious attempt to interfere with voting has been the permanent closure of polling places in Black and Brown communities."

I went on the Cook County website, and it shows all the wards and the precincts and lists the polling places for each precinct. Of the approximately 50 precincts for each ward, one or two don't have a polling place listed. We still have about three months for a polling place to be established. A far cry from the statement that there are permanent closures of polling places when less than 4% of polling places are still missing and that goes for precincts in Black and white wards. A non-issue.

You see, the reasons claiming that Blacks are being hampered during elections are false. Maybe someday, someone will come up with a legitimate reason why Blacks are being discriminated against when it comes to voting.

Dan Sokolowski

Elgin