Now that the New Hampshire secretary of state has allowed every eligible voter who has a concern about COVID-19 to vote by absentee ballot for the upcoming elections (the Sept. 8, primary and the Nov. 3 presidential election), my husband has access to vote by mail. He is more vulnerable to catching COVID-19; in fact, it is safer for all of us to vote from home.
If you are concerned about contracting COVID-19 from voting in person, you can check the box “I am unable to vote at the polls due to a disability.” There is no legal requirement to worry about since the secretary of state and the attorney general have declared COVID-19 to be a risk to voters and poll workers.
It is a two-step process: First, request an absentee ballot application, and return it ASAP. Second, after you receive the ballot, mail it or drop it off to your town clerk. People who haven’t registered can check a box on the application and get a form from the town; and by all means, contact your town or city clerk if you have any questions. Another great resource for questions is opendemocracynh.org/absentee. Spread the word and not the virus. Vote.
Voting is important to me. At last, all of us have access to voting and can be assured of safety during these challenging times. Next, wouldn’t it be great if this wasn’t just a temporary exception? Plus, the next push would be to allow New Hampshire residents to register online. Let your representatives, senators and the governor know how you feel.
SHIDEKO TERAI
Cornish
While the coronavirus occupies our attention, an assault is being waged on physicality. There is a trend toward doing away with the current forms of education, health care, currency and even driving with shifts like remote education, telehealth, digital currency and self-driving cars.
As a teacher, I am both grateful for and frustrated by the tools of technology. Certainly, teaching my classes right now would be impossible without video platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts, but as compelling and beneficial as these programs may seem, they are no substitute for a physical presence.
Technology today is inseparable from privilege. Not every student has equal access to computers and WiFi. Additionally, schools and teachers serve as surrogate homes and parents for many students who cannot afford to “stay home.”
The physical expertise necessary for things like lab work, visual and performative art and vocational skills is being supplanted by digital aptitude. This is outsourcing — not of jobs, but of physical ability. Digital learning will be devoid of social cues, a shared environment and meaningful relationships, the nuances that comprise human experience.
Ultimately, the greatest danger is control. Intelligence is not one-size-fits-all and knowledge cannot be standardized. We need to be wary of a techno-tyranny seeking to commodify and control education.
It is outrageous to hear New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — the media’s latest darling — suggest permanently replacing school buildings and physical classrooms with remote learning and virtual lessons. And it is disturbing to hear of Cuomo’s decision to rethink education with the help of tech giants like Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Google’s Eric Schmidt, people with no pedagogical background.
PHIL MONTENEGRO
Claremont
The recent focus on the killing of black men, and the proposed “aspirins” of police reform and minimum wage increases, do not address the actual disease of ingrained cultural (and perhaps genetic) bias. The only real cure is mental health efforts by the entire white population to eradicate the bias and learn deeply to respect our black (and brown, and Native American, and poor) neighbors. This is an effort until the “tenth generation,” as the bible says. This deep bias has been ingrained into our culture, including almost all aspects of our legal structure since the beginning of our country. It is so deeply ingrained that in most instances we do not recognize it. So what is the hope?
The hope is of generations of highly moral and ethical leaders, including political leaders, and generations of people actually willing to change.
Until the tenth generation.
PAUL TIERNEY
Norwich