To the editor:

Elections are over … thank God. Lawn signs have been removed, by and large. Billboards are being removed, and all of the mental refuse and yard non-art has been removed. I have been a political voter since I was 18 years of age. It is a privilege of citizens of the United States. It is not a privilege of non-citizens. But that is an argument for another day, and we can discuss that.

My question is both deeper and more significant than who votes, for it concerns who has been elected, and is the elected a person who represents all people, or only the people of their party?

What I have to ask, reaches far back into the 1960s and before, with implications for 2024 and beyond.

Reaching back to my early years, I remember never seeing the letters “D,” “I,” or “R,” preceding the governor, the senator, the congressperson, etc., when they appear on television.

Somehow we are led, without instruction, to listen to those of our own party, and to turn a deaf ear to those of a contrary party, but these letters appear after the election, not before. Once one has pledged loyalty to all American voters, then we show that they only belong to the “D,” or “I,” or the “R,” party. This is precisely when the references to a politicians party is to be removed so that they belong to all and not only to their party.

Place the letters before, after, or along with their names during the race, but once the race is completed, delete the references and allow the politicians to belong to all Americans.

The Rev. Jeffrey A. Mackey

Colliers