Voting – how important is voting to a democracy? How important is voting to capitalism?

Capitalism and democracy are not synonymous, meaning capitalism and democracy are not the same thing. Think about it.

Here in San Juan County, 10-or-so years ago, Si Stephens sold our voting anonymity to the forces of capitalism, putting barcodes on our ballots and then fleeing to Arizona; taking away our anonymity from us when we vote (Like so many things we have lost, such as honoring the U.S. Constitution).

Capitalism, unrestrained, has the money to do terrible things to ‘The People’. When I say people. I mean you.

For some reason, (gee, I wonder what reason that may be?) Milene Henley, San Juan County Auditor, will not commit to taking the barcodes off of our ballots. She has been ordered by the court to have the machines and barcode system certified…. In King County, the barcodes are perforated and ripped off of the ballot before they are counted. That I would agree to.

That makes more sense than barcodes being plastered all over the ballots. Barcodes that identifies the voter. Think about it.

Come on Milene, get rid or the barcodes on our ballots.

Nancy Brickman/Friday Harbor

— Editor’s note: San Juan County’s Ballot-Tracker was initiated in conjunction with the Help America Vote Act, during the tenure of former county auditor Si Stephens, who retired in 2006, after 24 years in office.