To the editor: This year I decided I’d like to vote in the primary elections. I investigated how one does that. As I am a registered independent, I can just show up on voting day, and then I must register with one of the two major parties in order to vote. After I vote, if I wish to change back to independent, then I must go to town hall and fill out various forms and present 12 forms of ID. Why must everyone be grouped into Democrat or Republican? Why is our country so desperate to hang on to a two-party system? Why can we only have two final choices for president? “Divided we fall” is a motto that has been echoed by our founding fathers, including Patrick Henry. We are falling, aren’t we? Our first president did not believe in forming political parties. He believed they would cause conflict and stagnation in the government. Why are our leaders so anxious to divide us? Are any of the ideals of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence still in force? I noted with disgust all of the political signs this fall which screamed “Vote Row A! Vote Row B!” Why on earth would I vote for a single row? Don’t I have a mind of my own? Can’t I chose which candidate to vote for based on their qualifications, not their row? Can we not use our own minds to vote who leads our cities, counties, states, and our country? Do we need to put our heads down and vote as sheep, doing what all our friends are doing? Come on, I left high school behind when I first registered to vote. Let’s think about this, and think about why it’s so important for us to be so thoroughly divided into two opposing parties who must, by nature, hate each other. United we’ll stand, people! Can’t we all be Americans? Because divided, we are falling. One final note: Though the party system is divisive and faltering, the right to vote is our most sacred right and most important duty. So please, get out there and vote. Vote early, and vote often! Annie Clark Ferreira Hewitt