First let me state I believe this is legally and morally wrong. But today i will address the real world problems I see with forced voting.

We presently have voter turnout that hovers around 50%. Most likely one third of those who do vote are low information voters who vote more by name recognition than anything else.

Forcing people to vote? That may be the stupidest idea I have heard in a long time. These people will be below low information. I am not suprised that democrats are generally for this. The party of give everyone everything will certainly benifit. Bad news though, there is not enough Elon Musks and Jeff Bezos to pay for all the boondogles and goodies that would proceed from this. We already are going bankrupt at a breakneck pace. Required voting will acelerate it even more. We already vote in poorly qualified people (Trump immediately comes to mind) and foolish measures (Measure 110), This would only make things worse.

—Jeff Greene, Bend

One of the more cherished parts of our Constitution to me is freedom of speech. The cartoon on Feb. 2 (“No wonder church attendance is dwindling.” by Joel Pett) however, goes too far. It crosses the line from freedom of speech to degrading what many people cherish — their faith (also a coveted freedom in our Constitution). I’m not sure of the purpose of such a cartoon except as a direct slam on Christianity and an aim to hurt our fellow humans. My deepest desire is that more people would meet the real Jesus, lover of our souls, Savior of the world, and friend of all He created and that means everyone — even Joel Pett.

— Ruth Nygren Keller, Redmond

So folks, don’t get me wrong. I am not in favor of our lawmakers shirking their duties, walking off the job, any of that. I have to laugh, though, at the hand-wringing Dems and the affront to their sensibilities concerning the Republican’s walking recently. People have short memories, I guess, as no one brings up the Kate Brown-led walkout in 2001, when the Dems walked off the job.

There’s a lot of new residents in Central Oregon since ‘01 so I suppose people just aren’t aware of that episode. Of course the Democratic Party here isn’t going to volunteer that information.

— Jim Leander, Bend

Reading the steps Deschutes County is taking to manage some aspects of homelessness is encouraging. Proactive management is better than reactive.

This needs to be universal across the nation. Otherwise some states or cities will simply hand people bus tickets and send them to areas providing assistance. Spoiler alert — this already happens. It’s not unlike some southern border states sending people to blue states to make a political point. None of these people deserve to be pawns.

— Michael Merrifield, Bend

I am responding to Rich Nasser’s column entitled, “Israel-Palestine genocide finding by court should also apply to the U.S.”

Wow, what a target-rich article! There are so many falsehoods that a regular letter to the editor wouldn’t be sufficient to address them all. But I will ask a direct question that makes further discussion unnecessary because what’s missing from his letter is any condemnation of Hamas.

Where is his outrage against the atrocities committed during the terrorist attack on October 7 which demonstrated savagery not seen since the Holocaust? What about the 136 hostages still held captive in inhumane conditions, being starved, raped and tortured?

Does he believe that Israel deserved what happened? What Israel is doing in the war isn’t retaliation; it’s seeking to make sure the rallying cry of “Never Again” becomes a reality.

— Deborah Halsten, Sisters

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