Emphasis on mail-in voting is important

I've always been a proud voter at every election. Applying that "I Voted" sticker on my jacket gave me a sense of patriotism even when I wasn't sure if I voted for the right judges. This past primary election was a challenge for all voters and poll workers considering the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic could last for months, bumping up to the November election.

Assuring that the November election is accurate might warrant a total change in how we in Illinois, vote. I contacted my son who lives in Seattle to clarify how Washington state runs their elections. All Washington state registered voters receive a mail-in ballot about three weeks before an election. They have that time to study, goggle, research those candidates running for office. You mail in the ballot, postage free, and that's it.

Each ballot has a tear-off number that you keep in case you want to check on line if your ballot has been received. If you still desire that patriotic feeling of voting at the polls, you can still do that, but why would you when mail in is so much easier?

I marvel at the new voting machines and printers available for early voting this year. I'm sure they cost mega dollars. Think of all the money we'd save if we didn't invest in new technology for elections. Election judges payment would be eliminated. Again, money saved if mail-in was the preferred mechanism and only a few open polls for those who still want to vote in person.

Candidates signs outside polling places wouldn't be needed. Again saving money, money that could go to education, social programs, pension issues, and making our state more fiscally sound. It's time to urge our representatives to embrace mail-in voting.

Judy Miller

Hoffman Estates

Wartime president

Donald Trump wants to declare himself a "wartime president." It's obvious he would be all too happy to receive some type of accolade involving "hero" status. However, he is correct. The description of a "wartime president" is accurate. The only problem is that he is at war with a country that knows what an incompetent and completely inept and highly corrupted simpleton he is.

Glenn Golz

Arlington Heights

Double standard

In his press conferences Gov. Pritzker has stated that he was very, very upset with the federal government with how customs enforcement was handling travelers at O'Hare. People had to wait longer than normal because of COVID-19 screening.

I find this interesting. Apparently the governor believes he is privileged to determine which laws he follows. When Border Patrol and ICE ask for cooperation to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, the governor says not here. We will not cooperate.

He is only worried about travelers being inconvenienced and making a political statement. So I guess Gov. Pritzker is above the law.

Gerald Aleksy

Elk Grove Village

A need for maturity

I want to start with an apology to all 18- to 25-year-olds who are mature and responsible and to acknowledge that I do not believe everyone over 25 is mature or responsible. In light of what we are seeing and hearing in regard to St. Patrick's Day celebrants and spring break students, it is obvious that there is a somewhat large group that doesn't have the maturity to be a responsible voter, though it is possible they don't even bother to vote anyway.

Until you have lived on your own and had to pay your own way in life, it is quite possible you haven't experienced life as a self-sustaining individual. Maturity comes with living, and I am aware age alone does not determine that. But I also believe liberal college professors can and do influence the thinking of their students and while they SHOULD be teaching them how to think and not what to think, that isn't always the case.

Janet Lumm

Schaumburg

Government matters

Grover Norquist, where are you? For the past four decades, you've mandated as Republicans gain control of government "To drown it in a bathtub." Grover has been the Republican guru, the man once sought by all conservative candidates to get his endorsement before throwing their hats in the ring.

It's been the primary, ageless objective of the Republican Party to reduce the power and capability of government, to degrade its significance to allow every citizen independence, to stand on their own two feet. Donald Trump followed Norquist's political commandment to a "T."

Call it impotence, call it incompetence, call it anything that resembles ineptitude, Trump has dismantled every agency capable of handling the current coronavirus pandemic.

And Grover, come out of hiding, tell us once more how your concept of government works for coronavirus.

James D. Cook

Schaumburg

We need someone serious in Congress

In these trying times, it is important that the 6th District be represented in Washington by a serious person. Given that your newspaper recently stated that Jeanne Ives is a person prone to "contentious obstinacy and bouts of hyperbolic insults." (2/20/20), she is clearly not the steady voice we now need.

Using her own words, here are just a few examples that confirm what you wrote and may alert your readers to her untethered nature:

1)"You want to go to the DMV and get your driver's license and a mammogram at the same time?" (Fox32 8/2/19

2)"We're going to be put in jail because we don't believe in the ideas of the left." (Illinois Radio 10/29/19)

3) The LGBTQ community is trying to "weasel their way" into acceptability. (The Daily Herald 03/14/13)

Plainly, these are not the statements of someone we can count on to find reasoned fact-based solutions to the serious issues now affecting the lives of our family, friends and neighbors. If we expect reasonable results, then the voters of the 6th District can ill-afford to send a verbal "bomb thrower" like Ives to Washington as our representative in Congress.

Jerry Freda

Inverness

We need the press - and compassion

So thankfully, Donald Trump has accepted and acknowledged the present and future suffering caused by COVID-19. No longer does he believe that it is a Democratic hoax. No longer does he believe that it will disappear as we welcome spring

Ah yes, our president is now listening to the scientific community, the medical experts and researchers that hopefully will lead us back to normalcy.

So why then does he continue his cruel rhetoric and surliness toward respected journalists who only wish to get clarification relative to the complexities that this novel virus presents? In this regard, at a TV press conference on March 19 with a scolding demeanor he commented to reporters, " You know you people should be sitting farther apart (three chairs separated them while he was bunched together with several of his staff at the podium)."

He pointed to them like they were bad/defiant children. However, a few days earlier Mr. Trump was seen shaking hands with several cohorts in defiance of HIS medical experts' advice. But the following is what disturbs me the most: After commenting about the reporters' physical distance from each other, he arrogantly stated, "I would like to get rid of 80% of you."

Considering the devastating effects of the coronavirus, this comment was awful, insensitive and beyond cruel. Donald Trump continues to disparage and disrespect reporters. How well I remember when he mercilessly mocked that disabled journalist with cerebral palsy. Mr. President, we need genuine kindness and empathy from you. The press is not "The enemy of the people"; it is our FRIEND. Do we have a friend in you? May we all be careful and stay healthy.

Larry J. Powitz

Arlington Heights