To the Editor:

The League of Women Voters’ Lotte Scharfman is credited with coining the phrase “Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Scharfman, a refugee of Nazi Germany, was the league’s president until her death in 1970. She stated that for democracy to “work,” you have to participate; you cannot simply be an observer.

As the saying goes, Americans will cross an ocean to fight a war, but not cross the street to vote – a right for which so many have shed their blood and tears.

June 13, 2018