LETTER: A simple image carries truth

To the Telegram:

I just have to comment on the politically salient cartoon in the April 20 edition of the Telegram opinion page.

I know many people, like myself, have been impressed by the simple wisdom displayed by cartoonists who provide us a birds-eye-view of contentious political issues, and this cartoon is no exception. It shows a couple walking their dog past a newspaper vending machine. The headline on the paper reads, “More Fake Candidates,” which prompts one of the couple to say, “We don’t need voter ID laws, we need candidate ID laws!” Now, while I’m aware that in a democracy, candidates are free to switch political affiliations with impunity, and that is as it should be, when the reason for that switch involves misrepresenting Republicans as Democrats on the ballot, there really ought to be some preventative measures in place.

In other words, while it is all right to really become a Democrat, or a Republican, we ought to be able to prevent such an about face when only used as a political devise. Perhaps one’s activities in party politics should be brought to the attention of the public, as being indicative of possible fraud. After all, I understand the state constitution makes it illegal to misrepresent one’s political intentions when having one’s name listed as a candidate, but that lie can be exceedingly hard to prove.

This is especially distressing when we consider many voters may be uninformed or only wish to vote for candidates based on name recognition alone. You would think that each polling place would, at least, display the names of these questionable candidates as possibly misrepresenting their parties, and include a clear explanation this information is provided, only to inform the public.

We all know the fake Republicans who will be in the recall primaries are committing election fraud — no matter how vigorously they claim not to be. As the April 20 cartoon simply reveals, we live in a time when voters who have enjoyed their right to vote for several decades may have to offer valid pieces of identification at their polling places or be turned away until they pay a fee to obtain specific documents to cast their ballot.

However, Republican candidates are free to misrepresent their political affiliations without meeting any special requirements or consequences. What’s wrong with this picture?

Peter W. Johnson,

Superior

Tags: opinion, letters