Letters

It is notable that The Press reports the vote total for each candidate, followed by the number of absentee ballots [“Arresta Reelected, Manger Returns To Southampton Village Board,” 27east.com, June 17].

While strictly accurate, this editorial choice felt like a subtle nod to those who repeatedly second-guess how residents who cannot be here for our Friday-in-June election choose to cast their votes.

While a vote is a vote, the drumbeat of op-eds and editorials seeking to cast doubt on election results by suggesting that absentee ballots are somehow less legitimate than in-person voting is disheartening and wrong.

Only when a more diverse swath of the population began to vote absentee, and more people used that time-tested alternative in a deadly pandemic, did the cynics take notice. Absentee voting is targeted only if and when it is not likely to elect a favored candidate.

The way to get your candidate elected has always been to convince enough voters to vote for them. It shouldn’t involve seeking to preclude any legitimate voter from having a seat at the table.

One does not have to forsake family or work obligations, second residences or medical treatment in order to vote. One does not have to leave the house if disabilities or illness make in-person voting unfeasible.

That is not the law, and what matters is that you vote, not how you vote.

Willa J. Bernstein

Southampton