Changes necessary to keep voters’ trust

I have followed the stories of election irregularities around our country with deep concern as many Americans have. My deepest concern is that these stories are destroying trust in the voting system so that people are beginning to wonder if it is worth it to go to the polls. This would be tragic!

Here in Washington State, I commend Gov. Christine Gregoire for her quick appointment of a bipartisan election reform task force headed by Secretary of State Sam Reed and former state Sen. Betti Sheldon.

Their final report submitted on March 1 made several recommendations, some of which have been implemented by our Legislature, but much more needs to be done!

The most important part of their recommendation was to move the date of the primary election at least four weeks earlier to give election supervisors sufficient time to certify the primary results, mail the general election ballots and prepare for the general election. This seemed like a good resolution to several problems, but the Legislature turned it down.

All of their recommendations will go a long way toward developing a system that is consistent, transparent and better prepared to prevent fraud and errors. I urge our state lawmakers to work on implementing the rest of the task force recommendations during the next legislative session.

Dottie Villesvik

Marysville