Motor-Voter Registration

In the debate in Congress about the bill that would allow citizens to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license, many Republicans repeated their usual canard that this would allow aliens, illegal or not, to register to vote and then vote. Of course they pointed their fingers at Latino immigrants as usual.

The Republicans just don’t want to enlarge the electoral process because many of the new voters would be poor people and racial minorities who usually vote Democratic. But they have to hide this fact so they employ scare tactics by using aliens as scapegoats.

I have never heard of a Latino alien trying to do this. They are mainly interested in economic survival and they know that trying to vote illegally in the United States will be punished severely. Besides, in many of their native lands, voting can be a dangerous procedure because of political corruption and fraud.

However, try to tell the Republicans this. They don’t want to listen because the more the franchise is made easier, the more Democrats will be able to vote in local and national elections.

JOHN F. MENDEZ

Los Angeles