Bravo for another first-rate day at the polls this past Nov. 2. Being my second time as a poll volunteer, I was impressed at the dedication and honesty of both the poll workers and my town staff; everyone sought to do a good and trustworthy job and to keep the voting going smooth and efficiently. Honest glitches, mistakes, in a citizen’s registration were promptly examined and fixed onsite by a trained and certified town clerk. Over a 12-hour shift I noted not one case of “voting irregularities” or of dishonesty, such as people trying to vote twice or busloads of Canadians or out-of-staters being bused in to steal an election. Despite sabotage by political candidates and radio talk show hosts, our government has worked well, much better than we hear and better than many businesses I have worked for and with.

I implore us all to keep in mind that your poll workers are your next-door neighbors, whether here in Maine, or in Pennsylvania, or in Arizona. The system works, and it makes no sense that thousands of people could sneak into a state to vote illegally or that a politician with a party in control of state governments, both houses of the U.S. Congress, the military and the Department of Justice could have an election stolen from them by the other party – that at the same time they are working to convince us is incompetent. It is every citizen’s responsibility to vote in an informed and wise way, and the responsibility of their government to ensure they have every opportunity to vote unhindered.

Bravo to Durham town officers for running honest and fair voting. Boo to Susan Collins, the faux-moderate Republican, for voting against the Freedom to Vote Act.

Stephen Brezinski
Durham