My bride and I were able to vote in about five minutes without any hassles. Sadly, for too many Americans, that was not the way Tuesday's presidential election was run.
Voters being forced to stand in line for hours makes me embarrassed to be an American. While politicians are constantly pontificating about America being this, that, and the other thing, one would think these misguided geniuses would see fit, as a priority, to have the needed polling places, ballots, machines to enable all Americans to vote in a convenient and timely fashion.
It is a disgrace that, for the past several presidential elections, the voting process has been riddled with charges of voter nullification, special rules and other obstacles preventing an honest and easy voting process.
The first thing that should be on every elected officials' agenda is to stop these outrages from ever occurring. Whether a person is white, black, beige, magenta should not matter a whit. What should matter is that every American be afforded the means to vote, without regard to their political preference and without such a seemingly simple task being turned into an ordeal.
The voting process should be one of easy access to polling places for all, not just for those who live in certain communities in the United States. It appears the same states are the culprits election after election. I shudder to think what would happen if these states were forced to take other important issues into their incompetent hands. You had better be the right color, live in the right area, and have the right political affiliation.
I congratulate all those that braved these outrages to voice their choices in this election. To live in an area where none of these outrageous shenanigans exist should be the norm, not the exception.
HOWARD BERNSTEIN
Albany