Letters to the Editor: This is the insanity you have to believe to say an election is rigged

To the editor: It is absolutely amazing how the right-wing talking heads can blithely spout off about “rigged” elections and “widespread voter fraud,” when anyone with an ounce of common sense would realize that it makes no sense at all. Notice they never explain exactly how an election was rigged or who perpetrated the fraud.

If anybody took the time to think about it, rigging an election would require many thousands of people acting in concert and total secrecy to carry out what the right refers to as “massive” fraud. Months of careful planning and the cooperation of election officials and countless workers would also be needed.

It is impossible to imagine keeping a secret like that for more than five seconds in this era of the 24/7 news cycle. Unfortunately, the people who blindly accept this conspiracy theorizing lack the ability to reason and think when it comes to politics.

Robert G. Brewer, Sherman Oaks

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To the editor: If I were an extraterrestrial being who came to Earth in the past 10 months, I would take note of an obvious political truth — that in elections, if Democrats win, the vote is rigged, and if Republicans win, the vote is legal and proper.

The solution would be easy to see. If we can use voter suppression and invalidate election results where Democrats do win, we can assure that all future elections are legitimate. Overturning an illegitimate election would simply require counting all the votes.

Oh, that is already being done?

Thomas Oatway, Valencia

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To the editor: A recall is an essential recourse for voters. After watching Congress for the last five years, I can imagine how gubernatorial malfeasance might be ignored by our state Legislature. (“As recall campaign closes, Californians might be ready to change the system,” Sept. 13)

What is not remotely necessary is the second part of the ballot: picking a replacement.

Every elected office in our state has a provision for filling an unexpected vacancy. For the governor, it’s the lieutenant governor.

Yet, for recalling a governor, we have a replacement provision that invites mischief. It encourages the party out of power effectively to call a snap election whenever the governor makes a politically tough call.

The recall should be about replacing a compromised leader, not replacing a political party. The GOP would not have spent all this time and money promoting a recall that would have made Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis our governor.

The replacement question on a recall ballot leads to a circus. It must be eliminated.

Richard Murphy, Whittier