This is in response to the letter to the editor by Lewiston City Councilor Tim Lajoie (Nov. 14), who seems to presuppose that some college students participating in local elections are doing so for unethical reasons.

Every American citizen who lives within a community, and is subject to its laws, has as much at stake in matters of public safety and the well-being of his or her neighbors as anyone else in that community — whether they were born and grew up there or came from elsewhere.

How long one lives in or is planning to live in that community does not place a premium on one’s right to vote. Nor does the perceived likelihood that an individual will vote one way or another.

If Bates students want to participate in local elections, residents should applaud them. They are a counter-example to the 66.5 percent of Lewiston voters who didn’t show up.

Claude Bergeron, Lewiston