Few people in the United States would argue that a secret ballot is a bad thing.  When you are voting the right is so strongly enforced that disabled people are often required to be assisted by a poll worker rather than a family member in political elections.  So why would we want to deny the right to a secret ballot when some people want to be represented by a union?

Surprising as it may sound, there is a major push to get rid of the secret ballot and allow a union to organize the employees if it can get more than half of the workers to sign a card saying they want the union.  Of course, an open card leaves employees open to being threatened or intimidated into signing.  I have a relative who was forced to join a union in another state.  She disagreed with virtually everything the union did, but still had to give it a chunk of her pay check each month.  If the union will be good for the employees, they should be able to convince them to vote for the union with a secret election.

Currently House Joint Resolution 8 is pending before the Legislature.  It would place a Constitutional Amendment before the people in the 2010 general election to ensure the right to a secret ballot so people can vote their conscience.  You might want to contact your legislators and encourage them to allow us to vote on a right most people assumed we had in the first place.