It wasn't reassuring to hear Secretary of State Bekki Cook, speaking before the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee this month, pass off the problem of Bootheel voter fraud as no big deal. Still more disturbing was her determination to ascribe most of it to mistakes by confused, elderly election judges. These volunteers work devotedly in the public service.

Facts, as Harry Truman used to say, are stubborn things. The facts are that two years ago we had voter fraud in Mississippi County for which a very small fry pleaded guilty and was sentenced after a federal grand jury investigation. Then last month, within days of that sentence, we had election irregularities that resulted in a Scott County Democratic circuit judge setting aside last month's primary and ordering a new election.

The facts are that election results in the Bootheel are tainted, as indeed they have been for decades. We wish our state's chief election official would have outlined a plan to ensure the future integrity of those results.