Voters responsible for their actions

It was with great chagrin that I read in the Feb. 3 Daily Herald that the election judges are going to be reviewing my ballot and advising me whether or not I have completed my ballot.

If I have chosen not to vote on any given race, that is my decision, and the judges have no business knowing whether I have voted on all offices or if I have chosen to bypass one or more offices. It is the responsibility of the voter to vote for every office he wants to vote for and if he neglects one office by mistake, that is his responsibility.

The ballot is a secret ballot, and that secrecy is lost if a machine is going to alert judges that a ballot is incomplete. The machine does not know if that ballot is incomplete or if the voter left it that way intentionally.

Furthermore, it is not the judges responsibility to know if the ballot is completed. That is the voter's responsibility. The lack of voters at the polls is reprehensible, but this is due to the voting public's lack of performing its duty. The voter must take responsibility for his actions and not rely on judges assuming that responsibility.

Phillip E. Ritchey

Glendale Heights