Editor, OBSERVER:
Recently, Todd Akin made a foolish statement about rape victims not being able to get pregnant as a result of rape. OK. This man is uneducated in biology and for that matter in knowing how to keep his mouth shut! One would think that even a right-wing Republican would have enough sense to not demonstrate his ignorance.
We may not like the fact that he is an elected official, but he is not un-American, just ignorant.
One the other hand, the actions of the Republican Party in Ohio are un-American. They have contrived a system to reduce voting hours in Ohio so as to disenfranchise poorer people. By reducing voting hours it gives a preference to people who can leave work to vote, who have transportation to get to voting polls and return to work.
It, in effect reduces voter turnout in minority sections of Ohio. This is un-American At a time when voting should be easier, they are making it more difficult. The Republican Party sees large voter turnouts as bad for their party, so rather than change their policies, they decided to silence the voters by reducing voter hours.
The truth is that voting should be allowed on the weekend when people are not at work, not on a Tuesday. We need more people to have a stake in this country, not fewer. So I say to the Republican Party, "If you want victory, help this country. Do not take the vote away from its citizens. You are behaving in an un-American manner."
WARREN BEYER,
Mayville
