To the Editor:

I commend our local St Lawrence County Board of Elections for holding a very organized and professional Presidential Primary Election on April 19th. It seems that Northern New York did not suffer the voter suppression and the purging of legal voters from voter files that 126,000 people endured in the 5 boroughs of New York City, on Long Island and in some other larger cities in our State of New York.

Another problem that voters of New York face is the fact that our primary elections are held exclusively for Democrats and Republicans, while all the people of New York fund them. St Lawrence County has a net budget of $195,000 allocated for the Board of Elections this year. This comes from taxpayers of the Green Party, Working Families Party, Conservative Party and several others. When Democrats and Republicans are using taxpayer money from all residents, they should not be able to discriminate by only letting their own parties vote. The outcomes of these elections are skewed and often not representative of the community at large. If these 2 parties wish to continue to disenfranchise people who are paying for their primaries, then they must be required to self-fund these elections.

This will be an issue in our next congressional session. Please contact Patty Ritchie and Addy Jenne Russell if you too have concerns with this inequitable election format.

Peggy Brusso, Democrat

Potsdam