There are legitimate reasons to oppose School Board member Cynthia Elliott's bid for re-election. But there is no legitimate reason for the anonymous attack launched against her this week.

Among a flood of campaign mail that Rochester Democratic voters have been getting this week was one aimed at Elliott. Headlined "Anyone but Elliott," the flyer included a list of charges against the candidate, accompanied by two very unflattering photographs of her.

Who sent it? Elliott's attackers won't tell you. This is the childish attribution on the flyer: "Paid for by citizens interested in electing school board members who care more about children and the community than themselves."

This is cheap. It is mean. It is despicable. It is undemocratic.

And it is cowardly.

There's not much chance that the perpetrators will be found out. The flyer was mailed with no return address. And it was mailed with first-class postage stamps, not with the bulk mailing-rate indicia that requires a permit (and thus could be traced).

This newspaper has its own concerns about Elliott, which we laid out in our endorsement article. But Elliott does not deserve this.

The people who produced this flyer and sent it should have had the courage of their convictions. They should have told us who they are.

They did not.

This campaign is the poorer for it. So is democracy.