When Kentuckians go to the polls Tuesday, their collective voice will speak louder than scare tactics such as vandalism at the Kentucky Republican Party headquarters in South Frankfort.

After reoccurring recent attempts to dismantle a 4-foot-by-8-foot Andy Barr sign on headquarters’ property, the situation escalated when party officials found the sign had been partially burned Tuesday morning.

That’s when the Frankfort Police Department was called in. Though there are no suspects, FPD has increased police patrols near the GOP property.

There is simply no need or room in our democratic process for vandalism or violence.

While the state’s Democratic headquarters did not suffer the same fate, recent pipe-bomb packages mailed to prominent national Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and former first lady Hillary Clinton, suggest recent violence is not bound by party lines.

As Americans, we all have the right to free speech and opinions. We don’t have the right to take those freedoms from anyone else.

If you don’t like the political yard sign on someone’s lawn, place a sign of the candidate you support in your own yard.

If a candidate’s negative television ad disturbs you, turn the channel.

There is always a choice.

Under the U.S. Constitution, we are all created equal. We may have different viewpoints, backgrounds, experiences, customs and religions, but we are all one people. They call America “the melting pot” for a reason: Everyone and their opinions should be welcome.

Vandalism and violence do not solve problems, only confound them. While we are free to express our beliefs, we are not free to silence opponents’ voices.

Perhaps the following quote – which is commonly attributed to Abraham Lincoln but is actually a paraphrase of a passage from his 1838 Lyceum Address – says it best:

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.