EDITOR:

Right now, we are living in scary times. We have a once-in-a-100-years epidemic. Instead of cases going down, they are on the rise yet again. We have hit a grim milestone of more than 200,000 dying of this illness. Whether you think it is a hoax or if it is real, we as a country need to find a way to stop it. This means we must work together.

What is not helping is President Trump talking about invalidating all the mail-in votes. Do you want your vote to count? Whether you are Republican, Democrat or Independent, your vote should be counted. This won’t just affect the presidential election, but it will affect the down ballot, also.

The Constitution gives us the right to vote. In the past 240 years, there has never been an issue with the country voting. You do remember me telling you we have an epidemic right now? This means the safest way to vote is by the mail-in ballot. There has been mail-in voting since the Civil War. If it has worked for more than 100 years, it should work now.

One of the reasons President Trump is talking about invalidating the vote is that he doesn’t want the citizens to vote. He says there will be an issue with your vote and it won’t count. He says this before the ballot is even cast! How can that be? President Trump is trying to put us back to an era of one-man rule. Do you want to be like Russia and have a strongman as your ruler?

This isn’t President Trump’s country or military. It is OUR country and our military. We have had a peaceful transition of power for over 200 years. We need to make our voices heard. Call your state Legislator and ask them if they believe in the mail-in vote or not. We are in scary times right now, but we can stop it. You just have to believe that the ballot, the vote, is not a hoax but it might be life and death for democracy.

Please remember that once the things you have always believed in are gone, they are indeed gone. Is that something you can live with? Maybe it is time for some real thoughts about what this man is really saying. I am an American first. Before party, before personal allegiances, even before my religion. Because if I am an American, I can have those other things as well.

Melissa Lison

Florence, Wis.