DEAR EDITOR:

We can all agree that honesty is a good quality for human beings to have. We might further agree that honesty would be a particularly refreshing quality to find in our politicians. So just imagine what it would be like if Republicans were somehow magically infected with an honesty virus.

Then you would hear them say, “We know that we’ll never get the majority of people in many parts of the U.S. to vote for our candidates based on the worthiness of our policies. So our only realistic path to victory is to ensure that as few people vote as possible.

“We also know full well that there’s no credible evidence of voter fraud in recent elections. We’re just using that as a cover story for the laws we’ve proposed or passed in many states whose real intent is to make it more difficult for people to vote. And since those laws will have the biggest impact on poor people and people of color who vote for Democrats; this will be to our advantage.”

If you espouse this view, which is contrary to the most fundamental principles our country was founded upon, you have forfeited the right to call yourself an American. And if you think someone who brings water to people standing in the hours-long lines your voter suppression laws will create should be arrested and charged with a crime, you have forfeited the right to call yourself a human being.

MICHAEL GREENFIELD

Youngstown