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SOUZA: In-person isn’t safest

| August 19, 2020 1:00 AM

Regarding State Sen. Souza’s article in Sunday’s paper, I must say, “Mary, Mary quite contrary!”

What was the intent of your words? Good God woman, it is as if we are all in this dangerous COVID building together and you are needlessly yelling, “Fire!”

In the minutia, you thankfully did correctly state, “Here in Idaho, we don’t allow mail-in voting.” Absentee voting yes, what you describe as non-verifiable mail-in voting no! Yet you emphasized and encouraged in-person voting as being the safest.

This is blatantly a false statement in Kootenai County considering the 2020 pandemic reality. Only 30 days ago there were 812 cases of COVID in this county. The records show we are now just short of 2,000. I wonder how many senior citizens and those in the many at-risk groups who read your words will end up not voting? Many will fear the absentee, safe (verifiable every year) voting that this state and this county has been doing for decades is now somehow at risk. This is a disservice to all voters.

I ask you now to use your position of leadership to reassure our Idaho voters their absentee ballots are safe and will be processed with the highest priority. Voting is the most American honor any of us may ever be able to do. For those who fought and died to give us that right, we honor their sacrifice and will continue to speak up in their memory when that right may be undermined by doubts being cast upon it by anyone in any way.

PAMELA BOUILLON

Coeur d’Alene