Letters: Readers discuss Missouri right to work, JoCo voting machines and fair-weather Royals fans

For the people?

When are we going to stop electing Missouri legislators who ignore their constituents while doing the bidding of their rich benefactors?

Two-thirds of the Missouri electorate just voted down right to work, after our supposed representatives had pushed it through the General Assembly and gotten it signed into law by disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens. (Aug. 8, 1A, “Missouri voters side with unions, strongly reject right-to-work law”) Then, after 300,000 Missourians got the issue on the statewide ballot through an initiative petition, our supposed representatives placed it on the August ballot, hoping the lower turnout would boost its chance of passage.

Who are these supposed representatives representing: their constituents or the fat cats who bankroll their campaigns?

You decide, then vote ’em out in November.

Allan Bennett

Peculiar

Kicking the can

With the resounding rejection of Proposition A, labor unions and their supporters may have won the battle, but they — and the people of Missouri — will ultimately lose the war.

The reason is simple: As larger U.S. companies increasingly consider moving their headquarters and operations out of politically and financially mismanaged states — California, New York and Illinois, to name a few — they typically will consider only states that have right-to-work laws. Same for foreign companies seeking to establish operations in the United States.

Consider how many foreign automobile manufacturers have brought good jobs to right-to-work Southern states during the past 30 to 40 years. So although the unions may have protected their turf in the short run, Missouri’s overall economic development efforts will be at a serious disadvantage over the long run.

All Missourians will ultimately pay the price for the unions’ so-called victory.

Stephen Brewer

Kansas City

Verify, then trust

The new voting machines in Johnson County, some of which didn’t work during Tuesday’s primary, definitely failed on efficiency and wait times. (Aug. 8, 9A, “New voting machines’ ‘slow start’ a headache in Johnson County”) They are designed to print paper ballots, in case of a need for an audit or recount.

But there is a much bigger problem with these new machines: When voters get to the end of the electronic ballot, they are presented with a choice of casting the votes or printing them. If they choose to print, they must reinsert the paper ballots and then cast their votes for them to count.

Here is the problem: If they cast their votes without printing first, the ballots are printed internally, and the voters do not see them.

These new machines appear to have addressed the need for paper to be able to recount votes, but they have missed the boat entirely on the latest threat to our democracy: electronic tampering or hacking.

If voters do not print their ballots and check them, there is no way for them to know for certain that the machine has actually printed their ballots the way they voted. An able hacker could have the internal ballots printed with completely different choices than the voters’ screens.

These new machines may result in paper ballots, but they cannot claim integrity in the process of creating them.

With certain politicians raising questions about the entire process of voting being rigged, this needs to be addressed so that we can be certain that our votes are counted correctly.

A simple reprogramming of the voting software should be done so ballots are always printed before and not after casting, so that voters have no choice but to review their final selections on paper.

Don Porter

Overland Park

Stick with Royals

I am sick and tired of so-called Royals fans badmouthing the team.

I grew up in eastern Kansas in the 1950s and lived in Kansas City in the ’60s and early ’70s. We put up with the hapless Blues (they were a Yankees farm club) and didn’t expect anything of them. Then came the second Yankees farm club — the real losers, the Kansas City Athletics, or the A’s.

The first owner, Arnold Johnson, didn’t know what to do with a major league team. The second owner, lying Charlie Finley, traded or sold every good player to keep the A’s losing so the other owners would approve their move to Oakland. That was after he promised to keep the A’s in Kansas City.

Finally, along came Ewing Kauffman and David Glass. They brought us two World Series championships and our own Hall of Fame.

So shut up and give Glass and Dayton Moore a chance. Or be ready to relive the ’50s and ’60s

Mike Brinkman

Fort Smith, Ark.

This story was originally published August 9, 2018 at 8:34 AM.