To the Editor:
The letter from Mr. L. J. McCoy, Jr., President of the Chesterfield NAACP, contained a very interesting comment. He asked: “Why would any political party wish to continually reject an individual because he or she made a mistake in the past?” Being only a college graduate, I thought I understood the meaning of the word “mistake.” Referring the matter to Webster in order to reacquaint myself with the definition of the word, I read the following: “a wrong action proceeding from faulty judgment, inadequate knowledge, or inattention. There was no mention of the punishment associated with such an act. By my interpretation, overinflating one’s tires or wearing white after Labor Day qualifies as a mistake.
To increase my understanding as to the reason for losing one’s voting rights, I again referred to Webster seeking the definition of the word “crime” and found it to be, “an act that is forbidden by a public law and makes the offender subject to punishment.”
Here is my radical idea: for people to remain citizens in good standing and retain all of the privileges of citizenship, act like good citizens and obey the laws of the society in which you live. Then, they will not have to rely on the political motivation of a staunch Clinton supporter to restore their rights in an election year in a state projected to have a close election.
And, Mr. McCoy, presumably in order to have restoration of rights forms notarized, some type of picture identification would have been required. Why no mention of the racism liberals espouse as being inherent in demanding proper identification for voting purposes?
David Severin
