I would like to comment on Richard Sheehey’s piece in The Mail, 11/29. I believe that Westy Byrd is not denying anyone their right to vote. It is simply a question of where they should vote, and the D.C. Board of Elections should only allow D.C. residents to vote in a

D.C. election.

On Nov. 5, 1996 the Board of Elections permitted close to 1,000 residents from other states to vote in the District of Columbia. Residents of these other states were bused from a local campus to Precinct 6 on the west side of Georgetown in order to outvote D.C. residents.

When you compare the 1994 and 1996 election results you can see that ANC candidates Beverly Jost and Westy Byrd received virtually the same number of resident votes in 1994 as they did

in 1996:

19941996

Jost 197Jost186

Write-in10Fogarty421

Byrd379Byrd389

Write-in43Write-in209

In 1996, Jost was defeated because almost 400 residents from other states were allowed to vote in D.C., thereby diluting the votes of D.C. residents.

This is not an issue of whether you can vote, but rather an issue of where you can vote. The state of Virginia would never allow residents from Maryland to be bused over the line to vote in a Virginia election. The District of Columbia, however, has a history of allowing nonresidents to vote in our elections. In one case, the Board of Elections allowed the head of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, a Maryland resident, to register to vote in Ward 8. It is well known that not only are residents of Maryland voting in the District, but they are using our public schools as well.

Becton is cracking down on out-of-state residents using our school system, but who is cracking down on the Board of Elections allowing out-of-state residents to vote in the District?

Georgetown