To the editor: Remove obstacles to voting

The right to vote

PolitiFact highlights questions surrounding a recent estimate that Wisconsin’s voter ID law prevented at least 200,000 people from voting in last November’s election (“Voter ID claim uses faulty data,” May 24).

Whether or not voter ID kept hundreds of thousands of people from voting, however, we know precisely the number of eligible voters that is too many to keep away from the polls: even one.

Voting is a fundamental American right, and that is why the ACLU and others have challenged Wisconsin’s voter ID law in court. From the president on down, proponents of voting restrictions have wildly exaggerated claims of voter fraud, especially the only kind of fraud that voter ID can prevent: in-person impersonation fraud. Existing, serious penalties limit this problem to a handful of cases nationwide — indisputably fewer than the number of people disenfranchised by voter ID.

With equal rigor, we must remove obstacles between eligible voters and the constitutional right to vote.

Chris Ott

Executive Director

ACLU of Wisconsin

Milwaukee

Bad business

In the May 24 Journal Sentinel article, “CEO pay up 8.5% last year,” it was pointed out that CEO pay is “tied to stock growth.”

Ford Motor Company recently replaced its CEO because its stock was not rising fast enough. Honeywell International is being forced to consider selling its aerospace division because of a letter to investors by a hedge fund that said selling the division would “increase shareholder value.”

American businesses have lost touch with their employees because of the obsession over stock price. As a result, employees are being laid off and salaries for workers are stagnant. We should be ashamed.

Phil Bail

Cedarburg

Dangerous shipping

The May 19 article, “Ethanol shipping proposal advances,” points to the dangers inherent in opening the port to ethanol, and potentially to crude oil, as well.

The future of our water and our community depends on us — concerned community members and elected representatives alike — carefully considering the long-term consequences of plans such as this.

The risks extend beyond the harbor: increased ethanol transport puts the whole community at risk as tanker trucks wend their way to the port, carrying what is officially designated as high hazardous flammable cargo.

Dangerous and unnecessary.

Janine Arseneau

Milwaukee

Please email your letters to jsedit@ jrn.com, or mail them to Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, P.O. Box 371, Milwaukee, Wis. 53201-0371. Letters are generally limited to 200 words and are subject to editing.

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