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News Release No. 2005-1 June 17, 2005 Letter to Editor on Elimination of Poll Voting Count
me as one elected official opposed to the elimination of poll voting. I
have fond memories of polling places. I
married my wife, Marny, at the Olga polling place, and I returned there the
night of the1994 General Election to get the first returns on my race for
Prosecutor. I was leading by a
five-vote margin of 55 to 50. The
poll workers in Eastsound will recall that I would often bring my children with
me to vote in the last fifteen minutes before the polls closed. After signing my name, talking to the weary
poll workers, and then voting, we would wait until 8 PM - at which time Ken
would bellow out, “The polls are now closed!”
Voting was more than a ritual. It
was a civic duty. The
act of going to the polling place assures that the people who vote truly do
live in the community. A person –
probably someone you know – confirms your identity and your address. You are given one ballot and you cannot vote
another ballot that is sent to your household.
If you make a mistake on your ballot, you have the chance to correct it
before the ballot is counted. There
is no question that more people vote by mail than at the polls. But, as the recent Governor’s election proves,
mail ballots increase the margin of error in an election because of the
difficulty in identifying voters, and problems in accounting for all
ballots sent and received. Some of the
problems you have heard about in King County have also occurred in San
Juan County. If there is another close
election, these errors could change the outcome of the election. |