As the country’s leading nonpartisan steward of the right to vote, the League of Women Voters emphasizes the importance of being informed and of voting during the all-important midterm elections Nov. 3. Voting by mail is a popular way to do both. In the March primary, 25% of Chicago voters used this method.
Some of the advantages of voting by mail include:
- It’s convenient. You pick the time that is best for you.
- No waiting in lines. You don’t even have to get dressed!
- It’s easy.
You can review the candidates and referenda on your ballot, using your computer, tablet, or cellphone and then mark your ballot. Among the multiple online voter guides is the league’s nonpartisan guide, VOTE411.org.
Voters can breathe easier now that the Supreme Court blocked proposed U.S. Postal Service rules from taking effect which could have impacted the delivery of vote-by-mail ballots. Voters who requested them should expect no delays.
If you choose to vote by mail, you must use the return envelope that came with your ballot and return the ballot via mail or at the drop box provided by the election authority at designated locations through 7 p.m. on Nov. 3.
If you are mailing the ballot within 10 days of Nov. 3, election authorities advise you to go to a post office window and have the postmark affixed there. Otherwise, it can take several days after mailing for the ballot to be delivered to the postal processing center where the postmark is affixed.
For more information, including how to request a vote-by-mail ballot, check with your election authority.
Diane Edmundson, president, League of Women Voters of Cook County
It’s horrific — not entertaining
I read with horror and disgust more details about the alleged sexual assault at the University of Chicago frat house. The police report indicated that there were men blocking the woman’s friends from getting to her after the men were cheering and appearing to encourage the sexual assault. How dare anyone interfere with their entertainment!
Speaking of entertainment, how about livestreaming an execution? Our wanton desire to be entertained has distorted our moral compass, leaving a narcissistic view of the world. This insatiable thirst for entertainment permeates all aspects of our society.
Presently we are entertained by political discourse with attack ads designed to humiliate and embarrass. Sport highlights get more “hits” that feature physical scuffles on the field and sometimes between the fans. The WNBA is not immune from this three-ring circus. How about a UFC spectacle on the White House lawn. What could be more American?
We are experiencing an existential moral public health crisis. This systemic failure of human decency is overwhelming, and it is endangering us all.
These occurrences are not a series of one-off events. There is a line that connects them and points to a rapidly vanishing moral center. Community standards, which once united diverse groups of people, have disappeared and been replaced with nihilistic tribalism.
There are no entertaining quick-fix solutions. Instead, we need to be brave enough to unflinchingly confront our moral shortcomings. We need to find the necessary courage to resist the destructive cultural currents that are tearing apart the social fabric of our communities.
These are human problems, caused by humans and must be solved by humans.
Joe Burke, Edgewater
Teach boys that sexual abuse, assault are wrong
Where have the basic rules for common decency gone? Young men were taught, in the past, that there is an understanding that women are protected, not abused.
Have we, as parents, and society, failed to teach our children the right and wrong actions to live by?
By reading about the alleged sexual assault at the University of Chicago, my answer is yes.
Correct your gentle parenting. Be certain your children understand right versus wrong, because, apparently, it does not always apply to your sons.
Sandra Minor, McHenry
Remembering Modest Mike
Yes, Mike Ditka was a tough, legendary football coach and player, who single-handedly revived a long-losing franchise and made it a champion. But that is not what I will remember him for. I will remember him for what he did quietly when no one was looking: donating his time, talents and treasure to Misericordia Home in Chicago — a home that houses Chicago’s most vulnerable citizens, including my sister for 40 years.
Ditka often paid to send the residents on trips to Disney World and other places. He believed in the mission, and if he feared anyone in this world, it might have been legendary Sister Rosemary Connelly, who he never dared say no to. “Iron Mike” wanted no attention or plaques for all he did for Misericordia. That is the Ditka I will remember most fondly.
Rest easy Iron Mike. You earned it.
William Choslovsky, Sheffield Neighbors
With Chicago weather, expect the unexpected
The high temperature on Columbus Day was a record 88 degrees.
When I was a student at Lake View’s LeMoyne Elementary School on Oct. 12, 1959 — 67 years ago — I decided to see a movie at the nearby Vogue Theatre, as it was a school holiday. The theater always had a double feature for 25 cents.
The movie “The Five Pennies” starring Danny Kaye was playing, and it changed my life, as I was inspired by the movie’s music and eventually became a professional musician. Walking home that evening (humming the film’s music), I remember it was cold — 38 degrees — the opposite of the 88 degrees. It was very windy with light snow flurries that blew sideways in my face.
What a difference compared to Monday. As some Chicagoans say about the weather: “You never know” or “Expect the unexpected.”
Steven Cooper, La Grange Park
