I was concerned about my vote being counted in the Nov. 4 election, so I called the San Juan County Voter Registration Office, 378-3357 and asked three questions:

1) Who made the decision to have county-wide mail-in ballots (I liked going to vote at a polling center).

Answer: The County Commissioners in 2005. The decision was made for three reasons: More people would vote, the voting would be more accurate and it is less expensive.

2) How many counties in Washington have mail-in ballots?

Answer: 37 of the 39 counties in Washington State vote by mail. King and Pierce counties have polling places.

3) How are the ballots counted?

Answer: They are scanned by four types of machines. The one used in San Juan County is called Hart Intercivic. Each machine’s oversight begins with a Logic and Accuracy test set up by the state and monitored by election workers. Heads of the San Juan County Republican and Democratic parties were sent invitations to monitor the counting of the ballots.

I was impressed with the security of the system after watching a nine-minute video called “How Ballots are Processed – TVW Program.” You can access the video via computer at www.secstate.wa.gov.

Bev Leyman

Eastsound