It will be expensive, problem-ridden

When the Snohomish County Council passed all-mail voting, I wondered if it had thought it all out carefully enough. The reasoning was to save money.

Now, however, the county will have to print ballots, hire workers to assemble and mail, with postage, the ballots, and then hire workers to check the ballot signatures.

Will the county hire handwriting experts or have to purchase new machines to verify signatures? My hands have become arthritic since I registered to vote some years ago. If my signature is not exactly as it was then, will my ballot be tossed out? How will I know?

The poll books contain the street addresses of registered voters in order to determine their precincts and polling place. Post office boxes are not acceptable addresses. Will the street addresses in the poll book be used to send out ballots? We have a street address, but we get our mail at the post office, as do most Darrington residents. The post office cannot deliver mail to the street addresses of those who have post office boxes. How will we get our ballots?

In previous elections, when voting at my precinct’s polling place, I presented my identification, signed the poll book in front of the poll worker, received a ballot and voted at an unbiased machine. I knew my vote had been cast. And they knew Shirley Johnson was alive and did not have to consult a database to find out.

Absentee ballots are the answer for those who are ill and/or out of town and unable to get to their polling place, but all-mail voting opens the door to fraud and human error. As a poll worker of many years, a former voter registrar and precinct committee officer, I am very concerned that all-mail voting will be expensive, unfair and problem-ridden.

SHIRLEY JOHNSON

Darrington

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

A burned out truck in Malden, Wash., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, two days after a fast moving wildfire swept through the area. Nearly all of the homes and municipal buildings - including the post office and fire department - in the small town of Malden were burned to the ground. (Rajah Bose/The New York Times)
Trump: State officials planning for ‘chaos’ of second Trump term

Along with potential court challenges, the state treasurer wants to make sure federal funding isn’t held up.

Eco-nomics: Juice-hungry AI, IT could disrupt clean energy efforts

Their demand for electricity could drive up prices and slow the transition to clean power sources.

Comment: Ban on flavored tobacco can keep kids from addiction

Flavored tobacco, including vapes and menthol cigarettes, are seeing heavy use by the state’s youths.

Electric Time technician Dan LaMoore adjusts a clock hand on a 1000-lb., 12-foot diameter clock constructed for a resort in Vietnam, Tuesday, March 9, 2021, in Medfield, Mass. Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. local time Sunday, March 14, 2021, when clocks are set ahead one hour. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Editorial: Stop the clock on our twice-yearly time change

State lawmakers may debate a bill to adopt standard time permanently, ending the daylight time switch.

The Everett Public Library in Everett, Washington on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Editorial: What do you want and what are you willing to pay?

As local governments struggle to fund services with available revenue, residents have decisions ahead.

Children play and look up at a large whale figure hanging from the ceiling at the Imagine Children’s Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Making your holiday shopping count for even more

Gifts of experiences can be found at YMCA, Village Theatre, Schack and Imagine Children’s Museum.

Comment: State should drop its lawsuit to block grocery merger

Blocking the merger of Albertsons and Kroger could end cost union jobs and fair prices for shoppers.

Forum: What are local governments getting from DEI efforts?

Businesses are scaling back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Local governments should as well.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Saturday, Dec. 7

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

toon
Editorial cartoons for Friday, Dec. 6

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Forum: What to draw on in building a ‘cabinet’ of your own

Winter is an apt time to use darkness, disruption and decisions to evaluate and reassemble how things get done.

Schwab: Begging readers’ pardon, a defense of the ‘indefensible’

Considering the context of all that transpired, Biden’s pardon of his son is itself a pardonable sin.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.