It is with dismay that I am discovering a trend among my Republican counterparts that opposes citizen participation in our democracy. In the past week, voter registration has been curtailed in libraries and in other public locations where it had been welcome for months before. These restrictions have been due to “complaints” to managers at the locations involved.

Who could complain about voter registration?

We live in the most remarkable democracy to emerge on Earth. Participation in our government is not only the right, but the duty of every citizen. The first step to that participation is registering to vote. We should be grateful to the people who volunteer, all of them in a non-partisan fashion, to register our neighbors to vote. We should all do our duty to support broad-based efforts to increase the participation in our democracy.

I ask those libraries and other locations that have restricted voter registration activities to rise to the call of citizenship and permit it once more.

Evan Macbeth

Chair, Loudoun County Democratic Committee