I was wrong.
I thought, if someone wanted to take away 48,000 Linn County voters’ ballot requests, at least one voter would get their day in court.
I was wrong.
I thought, if someone really just wanted to stop ballot applications from being mailed out, they wouldn’t wait three weeks to sue after 48,000 were already mailed back in.
I was wrong.
I thought, if someone wanted to file a lawsuit to take away 48,000 ballot requests, they would do it in the light of day and not after the courthouse was closed and five hours after a billion dollar storm had people sitting in the dark, houses damaged, communications down, just thankful to be alive.
I was wrong.
I didn’t know someone thought 48,000 ballot requests were all no good because they didn’t trust that people were signing and mailing their own applications; evidently thinking Iowa voters are liars and cheats.
I was wrong.
I didn’t know the Iowa Supreme Court would deny challenges to a lawsuit taking away 48,000 ballot requests without so much as a word of explanation.
I was wrong.
I didn’t know 48,000 voters would have to send in new ballot applications when they did nothing wrong and there was no evidence of voter fraud.
I do know those 48,000 voters will apply again, get another ballot, and not let anybody take away their right to vote.
At least, I hope so. I couldn’t stand being wrong again.
Bob Teig
Cedar Rapids