Letter to the editor

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To the citizens of Marshall County:

I am usually not someone who writes a letter to the editor, but I feel there was a lack of transparency concerning the election voting protocol this year for the county sheriff's race.

I am sure Mr. Yow will make all of us a great sheriff, but as a conservative Democrat, it did not seem fair to Sheriff Cryer, who has given dedicated, compassionate public service to all of us here in Marshall County for many years. a fair chance at re-election.

Other people have told me, (luckily, before I entered the polling place), that they were unaware the sheriff's race would require asking in advance for additional paperwork filled out before they were given their ballot if they were a registered Democrat.

If you were next in line and signed the book. Democrats had no say in the sheriff's race. Once you were in the voting booth and discovered this, you could not get back in line to receive this provisionai ballot that required filling out and signing multiple pages of additional information.

So they couldn't, and, therefore, Democrats votes for sheriff were not gathered and tallied. Given the corona virus situation for public gatherings and people having a finite amount of time on a break from work to vote, I feel this placed undue stress on both voters and the polling staff.

I'm not saying in any way that Mr. Yow won't make us a great sheriff, it’s just that the process of a provisional ballot that is not fully explained beforehand to people who don't receive a newspaper should be revisited.

With a race ending this close, I can't help but think this needs to be examined. Please excuse the length of this letter, but I just felt this needed to be said.

Sincerely,

Rick Roach