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The primary ballots have been counted. Winners have been declared. Liars have been made.

Voters who are neither Democrat nor Republican had to sign an oath declaring they considered themselves a member of one or the other in order for their vote to count.

I had a phone call from one long-time Sedro-Woolley resident who considers himself an independent. He said the declaration either forces people to lie about their affiliation or invalidates their vote if they refuse to sign the oath.

He said he was opting to not sign the oath nor vote. Normally, he would have voted yes for the school levy that was on the same ballot. But because he was so ticked off about the declaration requirement, this was his way of protesting.

Last week, the Skagit Valley Herald ran a story about the number of people who refused to sign the oath and had written notes on their ballots saying the requirement was limiting their rights.

The reluctance to declare oneself a Republican or Democrat is easy to understand. It limits our abilities to vote for the person instead of the party.

And why should I vote for a candidate whose values don’t reflect my own if the caucus system in our state already chooses a candidate a couple weeks prior to the actual election. At least Republicans only designate half their electoral votes using caucuses. I wonder if independents took this into consideration when casting their votes. They could either vote for a Democrat, basically throwing their vote away, or vote for a Republican candidate and have it count.

Our state’s primary system leaves a lot to be desired. We can only hope it gets ironed out so people know their single vote can make a difference.