Absentee voters shouldn’t have to pay postage
Due to COVID-19 and being seniors, my husband and I chose to vote in the May primary by absentee ballot. There are no longer drop boxes near our home. Mailing instructions state that adequate postage is required but do not indicate an amount. I called the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections to ask how much postage was required and whether one first-class stamp was sufficient. The staff person told me ballots with both one and two first-class stamps have come through her office. I had my ballot weighed at my local post office and was told 78 cents was required, and anything less would likely be sent back to the sender.
How does the post office process a ballot with just one 58-cent first-class stamp? Are some ballots delivered and not others? This situation is subject to abuse.
Voter instructions should state the exact postage. More importantly, voters who are elderly, infirm, or live out of state should not have to pay to vote.
PAULA BUDNITZ, ATLANTA
Trump appointees make Roe v. Wade reversal possible
The apparent imminent reversal of 50 years of abortion rights is tied directly to the Trump appointees to the Supreme Court.
It is worth recalling that Roe vs. Wade was not a close decision. The vote was 7-2, with five of the majority justices (Blackmon, Burger, Powell, Stewart, Brennan) appointed by Republican presidents. In the 1992 case (Casey) reaffirming Roe, the three crucial votes were rendered by justices appointed by Republican presidents (O’Connor, Souter, Kennedy).
In other words, abortion rights were made possible by Republicans. This was, of course, in the days when a cardinal principle of the Republican Party was severely limited government.
Now, the Trump appointees are prepared to join the two long-term right-wing court members (Thomas and Alito) in presenting their collective wisdom that the Republican view of the law in the late 20th century was “egregiously wrong.”
It is actually OK for the government (particularly an enlightened one like Mississippi’s) to regulate the most private human activity and decisions. What a monumental example of hubris!
GARY NAGEL, SNELLVILLE
