Tuesday is ballot counting day.  It is wrong to think of it as Election Day.  It used to be we voted on that day, long ago in a time far away it seems.  While most readers of this website are knowledgeable political followers, it would be nice for us to let relatives and friends know not to wait too long to mail ballots.  

The ballot envelope must be postmarked before 8 p.m. Tuesday.  All Bellingham mail goes to Everett for processing - even all the mail destined for Bellingham.  We may think this is crazy and wasteful and not green - and we would be right - but that is the fact of the matter.  Mailing a ballot on Tuesday risks the postmark being something like 11 p.m. Tuesday and the Auditor will not count it.  Even a ballot mailed late Monday night might be at a post box that gets collected only once a day - like 4 p.m. - and the ballot may not make it through processing until late Tuesday night.  

For safety, mail before 3 p.m. Monday - and better yet - before noon Monday.  I wonder how many people intend to vote and then realize they are too late.  Or cannot find a stamp and the ballot rides around in their car for a couple days - till it is tossed.  

We need a much better way of voting.  Ballot envelopes should be a color that is legally unique and gets them expedited processing.  Military ballots and foreign ones should receive the same treatment.  The ballot envelopes should be self stamped by the  County Auditor so we don't have to find a stamp.  Many of us rarely send anything by mail and stamps are often not handy.  If we want to make it easier for citizens to vote then we could take a few simple steps to make it easier.  This is a job for our State Legislature - House and Senate.  We might raise the question with candidates during the general election campaigns. 

So - remind a friend or relative to mail early - this weekend or Monday morning.  Let's all work to help democracy work.