Letter to the editor: Doug Chew doesn't speak for all

I write to strongly disagree with Westmoreland Commissioner Doug Chew’s comments regarding mail-in voting (“Westmoreland commissioner says county voters want end to no-excuse mail-in ballots, another disputes that”). Chew does not speak for all his constituency. I wager to guess he speaks for only a select few of his followers in the Republican Party.

First of all, over 15,000 Republicans in the county voted via mail-in ballot in the last election, and a total of 57,000 voters overall chose the mail-in option. As for his contention that mail-in ballots create a situation rife for voter fraud, perhaps Chew should recall that absentee ballots have been used successfully in this country since the Civil War. There has been no evidence of voter fraud in the last election, despite the excessive number of investigations and court cases accusing citizens of such.

Chew once again is showing he is more interested in pleasing a few Republicans than supporting his entire constituency. Perhaps he should spend more time trying to get our citizens vaccinated against covid than worrying about his political allies.

Carol Mintus

Hempfield