Watch your ballot and who to vote for on Election Day | Letters

Check your ballot closely

There is still a problem with getting the right ballot to vote.

My friend, who is recovering from surgery with 4 rods and 19 screws in her back, was determined to vote for Heidi Campbell for Congress in District 5. As mayor of Oak Hill, Heidi helped her receive just compensation for damages to her house. Heidi even came to her house to look at the problem.

So we made a huge effort to get to Edmondson Pike Library, and the election officials could not have been more helpful. But when the ballot came on the screen, my friend said, “I don’t see Heidi’s name!”

I alerted the man who had set her up to vote.

It was one of the “mistakes” that we’d heard about from the head of the local election board. He’d said everything was fixed, but obviously that is not true.

The worker at the library tried to make it right, and eventually he did. When the screen came up again, my friend saw Heidi and the other candidates she’d come to vote for.

How many others today were given the wrong ballot, didn’t know it, and didn’t get chance to vote for the candidates of their choice?

Whether by design or by accident, we have not been told the truth. Was it really a mistake?

Clearly, the problem still exists. I am writing to warn Nashville voters that on Tuesday, you must be sure you are given the correct ballot because the Election Board has failed us. Be vigilant!

Phyllis Goebells, Nashville 37205

More:Learn about candidates running in the Nov. 8 Tennessee general election | Editorial

Why I am voting for Andy Ogles

The fight over Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat will come to an end on Tuesday and it is one of the most significant races our community has seen in some time. As an avid hunter who is a proud advocate for law abiding gun owners and my Second Amendment right, I would be remiss to not support Andy Ogles on the ballot.

During his time as Maury County Mayor, Ogles made his commitment to defending our Second Amendment incredibly clear through words and actions. In fact, Ogles signed a resolution declaring his community a sanctuary for the right to bear arms, a constitutional right that Heidi Campbell wants to infringe upon.

Ogles’ signature was a concrete effort in the fight against the liberal gun control agenda as it tries to seep into Maury County.

This year’s election presents the chance to ensure sportsmen’s and all Americans’ rights are fought for in D.C. There is a lot at stake, and Andy Ogles is the candidate fit for the job and the fight that comes with it.

Mark Moore, Nashville 37205

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Honey Alexander was a special lady

Life has a way of bringing some interesting twists and turns.

Years ago, Lamar Alexander was in Woodbury making contacts and asking for votes. Several times through the years, I had opportunity to see him and talk with him. One special memory was to introduce my daughter to him at the State Prayer Breakfast in Nashville.

My opportunity to meet Honey Alexander is a special memory. Boarding a Southwest flight to California, stopping in Denver, Mrs. Alexander came in the cabin and sat next to me. We had a good visit with each other, and I learned she was getting off in Denver to go skiing. A week later, on my return to Tennessee, again with a short layover in Denver, she came into the cabin and again sat next to me.

Quite a coincidence! Again, a special memory to me of a wonderful, kind and special lady, not only with Tennessee, national, and international connections, but to this Woodburian.

Herb Alsup, Woodbury 37190

Don't pit businesses against unions

Why would anyone vote no on the Right to Work Bill(Amendment 1) that we are asked to vote on in the coming election?

Isn’t everyone who wants to work allowed that privilege? In reviewing what this meant, I discovered it was a bill to pit business groups against unions. I learned how much people who are employed need the backing of a union when there are abuses at work.

Unions have a history of getting benefits for their members. It is unions that go to bat for better wages, health insurance, a safe work environment, as well as personal leave for health and medical emergencies. If a corporation is sued over safety issues, it is the union that can help the employee with legal bills and can support a lawsuit.

We have seen the high profits that merged companies are accumulating. How can lowly employees fight for their rights when the power of the industry is used against them? They can leave their company but might find it hard to find another job. They stay despite abuse.

Membership dues in a union is the cost of keeping a safe working environment and having recourse to legal counsel.

How many employees are able to pay the court fees to challenge a large corporation with its highly paid lawyers? We already have a right-to-work law. We don’t need a constitutional amendment that firmly sets an anti-union law in place. Please vote no on this amendment.

Barbara Reynolds, Cookeville 38506

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GOP cares only about power

Far-right revenge.

With the definitive, unfiltered, Republican statement of 2022, former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch said: “I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles — I want control of the Senate.”

Then, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel mocked Joe Biden for his stutter and John Fetterman for his stroke.

The nastiness of Republicans has formed a cesspool of revenge. They have nothing to offer because they are so caught up in power. Power to cut Social Security and Medicare, cut taxes for the rich/wealthy/billionaires, increase taxes for the lower/middle class, codify abortion as illegal across the country, deem a woman’s healthcare to be decided by none other than an elected official (relish in making a woman have a baby then relinquishing any aid/help if she needs it to care for the baby), and nix all gun laws, allowing more guns on the streets, with the most likely probability of higher and higher crime.

Of course, Republicans want to go back to Hillary’s emails, revisit Hunter Biden and impeach Joe Biden. Now that’s revenge.

Republicans have lost all credibility of wanting to work for the everyman and everywoman and everykid. I’m tired of the out-right, far-right lies. Plain old common sense has flown the far-right coop.

I’m for Joe Biden who stutters and John Fetterman who is a stroke survivor. Both men have confronted and survived personal battles in their lives, while continuing to work for the people, by moving forward, toward keeping our democracy to form a better union for all. Vote to keep it.

Mary Sanford, Lebanon 37087

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Ad misleads public on governor’s record

Re: “We need a pro-family governor,” by Phyllis Sells, Oct. 30.

Thank you to Phyllis Sells for pointing out Gov. Bill Lee’s misleading propaganda in his latest political commercial.

Simple low-key approach to mislead voters, what he “touts” is not supported by his career as governor.

As Ms. Sells stated, the list is long for his lack of support for women, family healthcare, children in state custody, public schools, and teachers. Governor Lee, just be honest.

Carol Williams, Nashville 37206

What change are we supposed to fear?

In a television commercial for Rep. Mark Green, Republican candidate for gerrymandered US House District 7, the narrator menacingly states that Mark Green “knows that change is coming.” What kind of change? Is Green for change or against change? It isn’t clear.

Unless “change is coming” is clear “code speak” to far right Republicans who fearfully subscribe to Great Replacement Theory, the bigoted idea that white Christian males are being replaced in American culture by inferior women, immigrants, gays, Jews and minorities.

Green must believe it’s better to stoke fear to win votes than it is to put forth policies that would make him and others like him worthy of holding positions of influence and power.

I encourage voters of the 7th District to cast their ballot for plain-spoken Democrat Odessa Kelly, a candidate who will work for change for the better for EVERY Tennessean.

Joyce Quirk, Nashville 37212

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Election Day: Watch your ballot and who to vote for | Letters