Editors note: Ballots from the ballot drop box are collected and counted by staff from the San Juan County Elections Office located across the street from the courthouse. Videos of General Election Ballot processing can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX5wJlDEeWHGuU7XmecjZjQ.

Is there a reason that we have to drop our voting ballot into a drop box? Am I the only one that wonders where it goes after it leaves our hands?

Who collects them, who counts them, are they supervised or watched to see that they are counted properly or maybe tossed or misplaced? Why can’t we vote in person? Would it be that hard to have a polling place perhaps at the fairgrounds where we could actually make our mark and see it counted? I lived in a small community before coming to the island eight years ago where we were sent a notice of our polling place at voting time. We went there, signed in, in person, we were given a ballot, we went into our booths and made our marks and then handed it to a ballot taker and watched her run it through a machine that counted our vote. Simple. People could still get an absentee ballot that could not go in person. I am sure there are plenty of volunteers, me included that could man these voting places. Just wondering. And don’t say it would be too expensive, if we can afford a 22 million-dollar library we can afford a voting place.

Shirley Williams,

San Juan Island