The recent assertions by the Republicans that ballot counters are untrustworthy is not true. I’ve counted ballots for years and know that all of us doing the job take it very seriously. It’s an insult to hear James Baker imply people can’t be trusted to make democracy work.

There are checks and balances throughout the counting procedure. When our ballot machines can’t read a ballot it sets them to the side. We hand count them because it’s the only way to get an accurate count. When ballots are counted, a Republican sits across from a Democrat, they count a batch of 50 ballots together, agree on the tally, and then sign off with their signatures attached to that batch.

Baker should get down with the real people and count some ballots, maybe then he’d understand how Democracy works, and have some faith in the system. David Betts Bucksport