The road to the voting booth in 2020

I wholeheartedly agree that voting on Long Island shouldn’t be this difficult. I do think one item was not mentioned. We are voting early for safety reasons, yet we are in line for many hours with the same people who are not our immediate family. We may attempt social distancing, but when lines are this long, it becomes increasingly difficult and at times is not done. So we cannot go to a ballgame, but we can stand in line to vote? Seems hypocritical, to me, as this whole pandemic has become.

James McKeever,

Islandia

I dropped off my absentee ballot in the Nesconset Elementary School early voting site. The line of people waiting to vote stretched all the way down Browns Road to the corner of Lake Avenue. I spoke to one man who had just voted, and he told me it took him 1 hour, 40 minutes to cast his vote. Which begs the question: Why was only one early voting site set up in the Smithtown, Hauppauge and Nesconset area? Doesn’t it seem sensible and logical to have one in each area? Do those responsible realize the inconvenience and indifference shown these determined voters? I find it to be atrocious. Anyway, I am glad I voted by absentee ballot, walking past everyone into the polling site and putting my ballot in the box. Done.

Lew Franklin,

Smithtown

I cast my vote at the Mattituck Senior Center on the North Fork. Seeing the computer take my vote and confirm that it was cast stirred feelings of patriotism in me. It was not only me experiencing patriotic reverberations, but also my fellow Americans who joined me — the aged who gratefully sat down on the offered plastic chairs, the handicapped with walkers or canes to steady themselves, the moms with babes in their arms and toddlers clinging to their hips, the good-natured men, women and kids, and of course the poll workers who guided us through the process. Everyone was in good humor, chatting with each other. You could see their smiles in the crinkling of their eyes behind their face masks. Not often are we, as Americans, privileged to experience this kind of obvious joyful patriotism. As I reflect on it, we were showing our love for our country by patiently standing in line waiting our turns. It was a mitzvah, a blessing for all of us.

Lois Carey,

Southold

The League of Women Voters of Nassau County prides itself on its ability to schedule and host nonpartisan candidate forums every year. We had 12 scheduled for 2020. But this year, five candidate forums did not take place. Why? Because six State Senate and Assembly as well as congressional candidates did not show up. Four of the six accepted our invitation only to call hours before the event to bow out. One never responded after repeated attempts. Another had an angry campaign manager force us to wait weeks before telling us the schedule was too full. We are disappointed that our attempts to run these forums were thwarted this year. The winners on Election Day will be our voices in government. The League of Women Voters believes that constituents have the right to know about these candidates. This year, many were denied this opportunity.

Nancy Rosenthal,

Hewlett

Editor’s note: The writer is president of the League of Women Voters of Nassau County.

As a registered Republican since 1980, I am all too often dismayed at the president’s rhetoric throughout his term. His latest, about fraud for mail-in votes, yet again brings to mind a saying from my father: "Only a thief is concerned about every possible way in which he himself can be robbed."

Mike Solomon,

Northport

As we all know, if you vote for a Democratic president in a majority Republican state, your vote usually won’t count, and it similarly won’t count if you vote for a Republican president in a majority Democratic state . Many people feel disenfranchised and would rather have a president chosen by the popular vote. The rules will probably never change but: So we all have our vote count, I suggest the electoral votes in each state should not go to one candidate. Instead, they should be split in proportion to how people voted. If 30% voted for one person, then that person should get 30% of the electoral votes, and so on.

Norman Cohen,

South Farmingdale

A loyal Newsday subscriber for more than 35 years, I was showing someone your online voters guide. To my dismay, while trying to review the biographies, political advertisements appeared. I believe we should formulate our own opinions based upon reading biographies without political advertisements.

Vito W. LaMonica Jr.,

East Patchogue

As a 75-year-old Vietnam-era Army veteran who has voted every year since I was of age to vote, I am sorry to say that I no longer feel enfranchised in my beloved country. With three-, four- and five-hour waiting lines to vote for my chosen candidates, and amid a pandemic, I feel that my country does not want me to vote. I don’t feel comfortable standing in these lines. I feel that these lines were designed to deter me from voting. Is this situation because of incompetence or malice? I do not know. But I do know that I will vote, despite all efforts to dissuade me. America, what have we become?

Thomas Moylan,

West Hempstead