How to Do a Letter to the Editor (LTE)

Author: Chris Davis

Date: 2/6/17

How to do a Letter to the Editor (LTE)

Step One: Find a news article that relates to your topic

Step two: Decide on a simple point you want to make

Ex. If I am writing an LTE to get an approval voting bill passed, the simple point I may want to make is that voters want another way to vote or that approval voting is better than our current system because it allows a voter to express themselves more accurately

Step three: Write the letter

General Form of an LTE

Opener: Get the attention of the editor, oftentimes presenting yourself as a certain demographic can help or saying something good about the article you are responding too

State the problem: This is why you are writing and should be simple to remember. For example, “In light of the last election, many voters have realized that our current method of voting limits the voters ability to express their views.”

State the solution: Explain how we can overcome the problem that you have pointed out

Closer: Restate the problem’s urgency and then offer the solution again

Tips:

1)In the first sentence, either

a.)Introduce yourself as a demographic (i.e. a student, young person, senior citizen, business owner, activist, etc.)

b.)compliment the author of the article (i.e. “I’m glad to see you’re writing about ‘x,’” “You made a good point about ‘x,’” ect.)

c.)state your disagreement with the article

d.)do a combination of these efforts

2) Define terms before using them

Instead of saying, “I support approval voting,” say, “We need a voting method that allows people to express themselves honestly in close, contentious, critical elections ensuring the candidate with the broadest popular support is the honest winner. This method is referred to as approval voting. Approval voting allows each citizen the opportunity to cast a vote of approval for each candidate in the race. The candidate with the most votes wins.”

3) State the problem

Make sure your view of the problem is easily understood, this sets you up to offer a clear solution to the problem

4) Offer a clear solution

You can’t go into too much detail however due to the length restriction

5)Make sure that there is a clear ask that references both the problem and the solution

For example, “In a time of such great political turmoil, the people’s faith must be restored in our electoral system. Passing a bill that gives local governments the option of using approval voting is a step towards restoring that faith.”

Example of an LTE responding to an article (preferred method):

In the article, “Voter fraud in Colorado is extremely rare, officials say,” the Denver Post reported that Colorado officials assure the public that voter fraud is highly unlikely. However, this does little to convince the public that our current system allows them to effectively express their political views.

We need a voting method that allows people to express themselves honestly in close, contentious, critical elections ensuring the candidate with the broadest popular support is the honest winner. This method is referred to as approval voting. Approval voting allows each citizen the opportunity to cast a vote of approval for each candidate in the race. The candidate with the most votes wins.

In a time of such great political turmoil, the people’s faith must be restored in our electoral system. Passing a bill that gives local governments the option of using approval voting is a step towards restoring that faith.

Example of an LTE that is not responding to an article:

As a political science student, I understand that the faith people put in the government’s ability to represent us is what allows our government to function. However, due to the many issues that arise because of plurality voting, this faith is eroding.