I have not been a fan of the idea of early voting, but I must admit the early voting here in Chautauqua County was quick and easy.

My wife has Parkinson’s disease, is in a wheelchair, and has reduced motor skills, which adds a little challenge to when and where we go. We went to the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds on Sunday, Oct. 27 around 2:30 p.m. We found plenty of parking and the building was wheelchair accessible. We waited in line for the two couples in front of us to be processed, and in less than two minutes we were called up.

I informed the attendant that I would need to sign for my wife, who can no longer write, but I was told that I couldn’t and she would have to sign for herself.

My wife did her best but if you did not know what she was trying to write you wouldn’t be able to recognize what she’d written. Fortunately, one of the two people verifying our signatures knew us. Her signature was compared to the file and she was issued a ballot. I was easily processed by comparing my signature with the database.

Once the signatures were accepted, a ballot specifically for my voting district printed out. This is truly impressive technology.

We went to one of several tables and filled out our ballots, then wheeled over the voting machine and fed it in. That easily, the process was complete.

Our local election officials have done an excellent job in their planning and execution of the early voting process with the rules New York state requires.

However, I have one criticism. With all the planning and great implementation of this process, why does New York state insist on not closing the final loophole and require photo identification? We should make sure every person voting has the legal right to participate in the election process and that the person is who they say they are.

Rather than rely only on a signature that could be faked, using a photo ID seems the way to go.

It almost seems some of our elected officials want to keep that door ajar just in case they need to sneak in a few votes for themselves or for their party.

Henry Link is a Portland resident.