Editor, The Beacon:

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, the evidence revealed in the latest federal indictment of Donald Trump should disturb every American who cares about protecting our freedom to vote and our democracy. Trump was charged with four criminal counts, including conspiracy to defraud our country and impede our right to vote.

According to the indictment, Trump cooked up numerous illegal schemes to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election — including counterfeiting electoral certificates that declared him the winner. He and his cronies leaned on everyone they could to carry out their plans, from state officials to former Vice President Mike Pence.

When they couldn’t steal the presidency by throwing out votes or through phony paperwork, they rioted on our nation’s Capitol in an attempt to stop the election from being certified.

Some pundits are treating Trump’s indictment like political theater, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about being able to confidently cast our ballots as Americans, certain that our vote will be counted, no matter our political party. It’s about whether a president and his allies who are trying to cling to power should be able to throw out votes that they don’t like. The answer, of course, must be resoundingly no. We, the American people, choose our leaders, and not the other way around.

These are serious crimes against our country. To preserve the rule of law and our democracy, we must let the legal process proceed, without interruption or interference.

Our democracy depends on it.

Larry E. Hicks Sr.

Deltona