Letter: Early voters are well prepared

Friday, Aug. 23, 2002 | 4:13 a.m.

In last Sunday's column, Jon Ralston calls citizens who vote early "fools, sloths, willful idiots and lazy ignoramuses." I believe your readership knows better. Jon appears to believe Clark County residents are not smart enough to determine for themselves when they have sufficient information to decide for whom they wish to vote. Instead he says they should wait until Election Day so they can "read the papers" and "watch TV."

My job is to serve the citizens of Clark County and to provide everyone who is eligible to vote the opportunity to do so. I do not believe making voting easy and convenient is a bad thing and I certainly don't think it fosters apathy, as the headline on Jon's column suggests. I clearly have a lot more faith in the thousands of individuals who come to the early voting sites with their sample ballots marked and cast their ballots prior to Election Day than does Jon.

Jon's assertion that any voter who votes early has put no thought into his or her choices is irrational. Voters are adults and are capable of deciding for themselves when they are ready to vote ... and the great thing about Clark County is they can vote early, or on Election Day, or by mail, whichever they prefer.

I am confident that if Jon would actually come out to some of our early voting sites and talk to the voters, he would see that early voters are every bit as knowledgeable and prepared as those who choose to vote on Election Day.

LARRY LOMAX Editor's note: The writer is the Clark County registrar of voters.