Feb. 6, 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: Virginians have a well-organized, easy to use system for voting. When I vote in my district, Rockbridge Baths, I see neighbors and friends manning the tables who know me, but who always ask for my ID and voter card. Business is business, and I like it that way.
The voting and vote tabulating system is at the heart of our republic. The Constitution says that voting and vote counting is run only by state governments. The wisdom found there protects the voting outcome from any wouldbe tyrant-come president from manipulating the vote totals.
President Trump has recently worried openly about his party’s chances in the mid-term elections in November, and a week later publicly stated that voting should be “nationalized,” in other words, controlled by Trump. Shocking to hear!
But not news for some. Trump’s appointees have already illegally seized state voting roles, information that would allow him to target specific individuals and groups to inhibit voting behavior via directed media and other methods.
Moreover, many observers have noted that ICE, now directed almost exclusively to large Democratic cities, gives Trump a potential method of control over voting turnout simply by upping the ICE heat in November. The fewer people to vote in a largely Democratic city tilts the state outcome toward Republicans.
The state of Virginia is majority Democrat, but if the vote were suppressed in Richmond and Alexandria, the outcome looks more Republican. Will ICE up the heat there?
We’re looking at a direct, illegal and unconstitutional attack on the heart of Democracy. Where is the outcry of our elected officials, Warner, Kaine, Cline, and 10 other Virginia representatives? FRED FEVRIER Walkers Creek
