No more 'See you at the polls'

Chelan County commissioners acted this week on an advisory vote from last week's election that suggested more people favored voting by mail. Just 40 percent said the county should maintain poll site voting.

Despite my best effort (my vote) and my strong feeling that the county should not favor all-mail balloting despite the popularity and its lower cost, I can't go to the poll anymore. It's gone.

So for future elections, I'll look forward with glee to the random day when I will receive a ballot in the mail. Perhaps I'll set it aside from my catalogs, magazines and credit-card preapprovals. Perhaps I'll remember to find a special time to mark my ballot, but more likely I will just do it between a fast-food dinner and watching some TV.

Maybe I will get together with some friends and we can all mark our ballots at the same time, so it actually feels like voting. Maybe I'll go to the senior center so I can get the experience of saying hello to the elderly women who usually work the polls and whose cheerful greetings always made me feel good to vote.

But I will keep voting. Whether in person or by mail, there is no more important role for a citizen. I plan to continue doing it.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.