Letters to the Editor by JANELL ALEWYN

Donald Trump may one day be known as the Great Motivator

     Some Americans see Donald Trump as a threat to our democracy, but I disagree. Donald Trump has done more for democracy than people realize.

He has motivated record numbers of voters to turn out and actually vote.

     The numbers of early and vote-by-mail ballots already cast (and counting) are breaking records, and that is good for our democracy — though likely not so good for Trump and his Republican apologists.

This letter was printed in the Arizona Republic on October 18, 2020.

     My ballot arrived in the mail at noon on Friday. First, I went to https://my.arizona.vote to pull up my voter registration and check its accuracy: name, address, party, status (Active). Then I filled out my ballot and hand-delivered it to the Pinal County Recorder’s Office. My 2020 ballot was delivered within three hours of its receipt.

     I urge all voters to promptly complete their ballots and, if possible, drop them off in person at an official drop-off location. You will find those under “Find your polling locations” at https://my.arizona.vote. Scroll down to Drop Box Sites.

     After a week or two, return to the site to check the status of your ballot-by-mail and see if it was received and accepted. If there are any problems, you’ll need to address them immediately.

     If you are planning to mail your ballot, it is all the more critical that you do so immediately. Arizona begins to process ballots 14 days before Nov. 3, so getting ballots in early facilitates the counting of those millions of ballots before election day.

     For those seats where you can vote for two or more candidates, but only one candidate is of your party, it is best if you just vote for that one candidate. Your party’s lone candidate benefits from your single vote for her/him.

     If you are voting in person on election day, and if you see any attempts at voter intimidation, report it to the Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE and to the Arizona Voter Hotline at 833-VOTE4AZ.

     The unquestioning support that some self-described Christians extend to this president is baffling. Donald Trump does not now, nor has he at any time in his life as a public figure, demonstrated any of the qualities associated with Jesus Christ. He is not humble, charitable, forgiving, kind or compassionate. His embrace of the Christian faith, like everything else he does, is rooted in a selfish preoccupation with personal gain. Forget “Do unto others …” Trump’s mantra is “What’s in it for me?” He attends church only to get married (again and again) or as a photo op. Photos of him trying to look pious are, sadly, rather comical.     And to those who see him as “chosen,” those who think he was sent by God, well, if that’s true, your god needs to hire a quality control expert.
 

     Katie Taylor of Scottsdale asserts in Tuesday's letters to the editor that "the primary purpose of government is not to keep you safe, but to protect your rights."     

     So if the purpose of government is not to keep us safe, we can dispense with all police departments, ambulance and EMT services, fire departments and all branches of the U.S. military as well as intelligence agencies?     

     Also we can eliminate local, state, and federal agencies whose very purpose is to promote public safety?     

     Wow.    

     That should save us a bundle of money while leaving millions of Americans vulnerable. But at least our "rights" are protected.
This letter was in the Arizona Republic on May 7, 2020.