Dear Editor
I read "Padding the poll" (News-Optimist, Oct. 21) with mixed feelings. It made me laugh, but it also made me angry.
I find this editorial to be a poor opinion. You are the ones who set up the online poll in the first place. hen you feel compelled to rebut the results because you either don't like them or don't believe them. I don't know if what you say is correct, that the poll can be "padded." I was able to vote only a single time. Maybe you mean the organized campaigns were able to send out the poll to their supporters more effectively. If that is what you mean, perhaps the campaigns that were able to do so should be applauded, not ridiculed or accused of some wrong doing.
Since your organization controls the website, maybe you'd like to share with your readers which votes originated from the Battlefords and which originated from Regina, Saskatoon and other parts of the province.
I would like to point out that, regardless of your opinion about so called padding , all any reader has to do is drive around for a few minutes anywhere in the Battlefords to see lawn signs for all three candidates are on many lawns.
The Battlefords is a unique community. It does not always follow the provincial trend. We are independent minded and like to support people who work hard to earn our support. Many of my friends who are under 40 also voted. Perhaps the results are skewed due to our generation's use of and access to the Internet. I believe the youth of the Battlefords deserve to be heard to and to discount their voices as you have done is an insult to democracy.
It think the candidates have all put their names and ideas forward and they will be debated and discussed for another few weeks. The only poll that matters is the one on Nov. 7.
Your editorial is unfair and quite obviously shows where your support lies. Let's allow the people of the Battlefords to decide who we elect as the next MLA without the influence of these polls and your commentary on their accuracy.
Trent Houk
North Battleford
