I am a U.S. Navy veteran, and I believe it is everyone’s right to vote. I usually exercise that right myself.

However, letters have been sent to Mainers’ homes that include a list of names of people at that address and if they voted or not, noting that letters like these might come out after elections. These letters would let your “friends, neighbors and relatives” know whether you voted or not.

This is a huge violation of our right to privacy. It is also a way of public shaming, a tactic used by medieval governments. Most people in the medieval times were put into stockades when they were going to shame someone; today, the stockades are just in the form of letters sent out.

As I have said, it is our right to vote, but it is also our right not to vote, and it is no one’s business if someone votes or not. This kind of practice should not be allowed to continue in the United States of America or in our great state of Maine!

Marc Smith
Brunswick