Editor,

I recently received my ballot for the presidential primary election. I was under the impression that I was entitled to a secret ballot. That assumption was incorrect, as you can see from the attachment, which is a scan of my actual ballot envelope — ready to be mailed. Instructions required that I choose a party, even though I consider myself an independent voter who votes for the best qualified person for the job.

In my opinion, it is no one’s business whether I belong to a party or not. You can easily ascertain by looking at the image of the outside envelope for my ballot who I voted for as there is only one person running for the in the Republican Party.

I not only consider this a violation of my privacy, but also a violation of the law concerning the required secrecy of the ballot. In addition, this requirement sets the table for voter fraud, as anyone in the opposing party counting ballots, can just toss the envelopment in the waste bin without counting my vote.

I have contacted by telephone the Island County Election’s Office, my district’s state representative, as well as the Secretary of State’s office. The nice woman in my district representative’s office did tell me about the bill that was passed in the legislature, and that it was sponsored by Mr. Hunt, and passed by a majority of Democrats. No one else in state or local government was willing to correct or even attempt to correct what I feel is an immense irregularity let alone talk to a voter.

Hopefully, you through your newspaper can bring some pressure to bare in the appropriate places to correct what I consider to be a huge miscarriage of the voting process.

This attempt to open the door for voting fraud can not be allowed to continue in the future. I don’t know if this is taking place just here in Island County, or in the entire state of Washington, but it needs to be dealt with immediately.

Edward M. Plitt

Oak Harbor