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B I y last column before the election
is a plea for your help to get us
through the next week smoothly.
We have seen tremendous results in our
effort to get people to vote early. Voter
turnout in the first week of voting has
been nearly double what we experienced
in 2016. Thank you to all of you that took
heed and got your ballots in.
As an election official, I face the pros-
pect of long lines on Election Day. Elec-
tion officials hate lines. Wehate making
people wait. But we don’t control human
behavior and have a legal obligation to take care
of people when they show up for help.
I am asking for your help to ensure we don’t see
long lines and frustrated customers on Election
Day.
We are doing what we can to make it easy for
you to get the help you need prior to Election Day.
Our Vote Center is open every weekday from 9
a.m. to 4 pm. We will also be open this Saturday
and Sunday from 9 a.m. to pm.
wait in line.
By PADDY
McGUIRE
need to be.
More than anything, I need your help by letting
Veterans Day '
breakfast canceled
Editor, the Journal,
Due to COVID-19 and county and '
state guidelines, American Legion
Fred B. Wivell Post 31 of Shelton, as
this year’s host for the yearly Veterans
Day breakfast, is sorry to inform the
community that we have decided to
cancel this year’s breakfast.
We look forward to hosting this
event next year Nov. 11, 2021.
Again, we are sorry and we wish
everyone a happy, safe'Veterans Day
2020.
Pete Ldserinko
Post adjutant, Shelton
The green
Editor, the Journal,
' So long ago and yet so alive in ’my
memory, the childhood of living poor,
Chicago South Side Irish poor. In cold-
water flats, oil-burning stoves with
black tentacle pipes
Stretching through the walls, the
icebox, the ugly big water tank in the
V kitchen,
My mother’s pride and joy, a porta-
ble washing machine with a wringer.
And always “the green.” Mud green,
drab green, lifeless green.
The green of depression and little
hope. The green with all the greenness
gone. I
Born during the middle of .the De-
pression, I thought this lifestyle was
r the way things always were and al-
ways will be. The movies, however, de-
picted other ways beyond my wildest
dreams. Why, I thought, do we have
so very little and others so very much?
BITOI‘.
voting?”
Jail
If you need to register to vote, update
your address, get a replacement ballot or
need accessible equipment to be able to
cast your ballot with privacy and indepen-
dence, we are here to help. But please, get
that help now. Get it over the weekend.
Get the help you need when there is not a
Please do not wait until Election Day.
We are closing our motor vehicle and ma—
rine vessel licensing windows Monday and
Tuesday so we can focus on serving voters
and keeping the lines down.
Without an election, Monday would be a crazy
day at our office because property taxes are due,
so the Treasurer’s Office will be very busy. We
expect traffic and parking around the County
Administration Building to be a mess Monday
and Tuesday so we’re bringing in students from
the Naval Junior ROTC program at Shelton High
School to help with getting people where they
In the Question of the Week on page A-16 of the
Oct. edition of the Shelton-Mason County Jour-
nal, Margie McNeil, left, was incorrectly identified
as Keelin Titzer, right. The Journal regrets the
. The question was “What is your first memory of
McNeil said her first memory of voting was,
“When I turned 18. Why? Because it’s what you do.”
Titzer’s response was, “I voted for (Barack) Obama
in It was the first time I was allowed to vote.”
ihér‘iiéi‘té‘i-éiiui
Thursday, Oct. 29, Shelton-Mason County Journal Page A—5
than later.
A plea for calm as Election Day approaChes
us solve any issues that we have sooner rather
I also ask for your patience. Because so many
have taken heed and voted early, we will have
good preliminary results Tuesday night. In some
cases, it will be clear who the winners and losers
are immediately, but remember that we will be
receiving and counting ballots for several weeks.
election.
as Witt ’
icy
The Journal encodrages original letters to the editor otlocal interest.
Diverse
and varied opinions are welcomed. We will not publish letters that are
deemed ,
libelous or scurrilous in nature. All letters must be signed and include
the
writer’s name, address and daytime phone number, whichWill be used for
verification purposes only; Alikietters are subtéétto editing for length,
grammar
and clarity. To submit a letter, email editor@masoncounty.com, drop it off
at
W. Cota~St., or mail it to PD. Box Shelton, WA 98584.
But when I asked this question, I was
told, “We do with what we have, and
make the best of it.” I was taken care
of, I was fed, clothed and had a place
to live, and was loved by my parents.
But his answer did not satisfy my feel-
ing, no not just that, but my conviction
that there was so much more, that all
deserved as well as the rich people.
As I have grown older, much older,
green has become the symbol of hope
and happiness. Each new day is the
“fresh green” of possibilities, and hope
for good things, not just for myself, but
for the possibility of a lasting peace,
and anticipation for everyone to be
able to have all that is needed, for the
secure feeling in what will make a life
of happiness. I will never forget that
“green” of my childhood, and hope I
never see it again.
Patricia Vandehey
Shelton
Good going,
voters
Editor, the Journal,
Congratulations to the Ma-
son County voters who voted as of Fri-
day, Oct. 24. That accounts for 46.5%
of registered voters. The remaining.
registered voters can race to
deposit their ballots in a ballot drop
box now. If you choose to mail your
ballot, it must be postmarked by Tues-
day, Nov. But please use the mail
before Tuesday, to be sure it is on time.
Citizens can still register in person
at the Mason County Vote Center, 411
N. 5th St. until 8 pm. Nov. Enter
at the back of the building and follow
the signs.
'A few days after you deposit or mail
your ballot, you can check whether it
has been received and accepted. G0
to votewa.gov, enter your name and
birthdate to check the status of your
ballot. You may also request a replace-
ment ballot or even print a replace-
ment at that same website. ,
When ballots are received at the
Mason County Vote Center, the signa-
tures are verified by comparison with
your registration or driver’s license.
If your ballot was not accepted, per-
haps the signature does not match or
the ballot envelope was not signed.
The elections staff will send you a let-
ter which you will sign and return as
quickly as possible. Your ballot will
then be processed and counted.
We voters in the state of Washing-
ton are very fortunate to be part of
an election system that is designed to
make voting safe, efficient and con-
venient. Hats off to the hard-working
Mason County elections staff, ‘Fina
Ormond, Susan Blankenship, Lorie
Bickford and Auditor Paddy McGuire.
They have created the new Vote Cen-
Postmarks count, so if a service member from Ma-
son County puts a ballot in the mail to us in South
Korea or Kuwait on Election Day, we will count
that ballot when it gets to us and our system al-
lows time for that to happen.
We won’t know the final, official results until
the Mason County Canvassing Board, Commis-
sioner Sharon Trask, Prosecuting Attorney Mike
.Dorcy and I meet on Nov. 23 and to certify the
The good news is that this will all be over soon.
We can go back to being friends and neighbors
and hopefully put aside our political differences.
I Paddy McGuire is the Mason County auditor
ter and adapted to the challenges of
elections in the midst of a pandemic.
Most'of all, cheers to all of us vot-
ers of Mason County. 'Our vote is our
voice, and together we have lified our
voices to a roar!
Cynthia Shotts
Past president
League of Women
Voters of Mason County.
i Shelton
Motorcycle .
infection
Editor, the Journal, .
Earl Burt says that the Sturgis
rally was a superspreader event, and
everyone who allowed it to happen was
a “nitwit.”
Business Insider (Aug. 26) says that
about half a million people attended,
and 100 have become positive with the
virus. That’s
USA Today (Sept. 17) says the in--
fection rate is 0.09%. That is 9/100ths
of 1%, an incredibly low infection rate.
The Wall Street Journal and many
other outlets pointed out that a study
that concluded to the contrary Was so
poorly done that its conclusions are
completely useless, describing the
claim of a superspreader event as “gar-
bage.” As to the people who live in St-
urgis, their infection rate is the same
as the rest of the state.
I submitthat Mr. Burt will not be-
lieve any of these reports, because they
don’t fit his political Views and are not
condoned by leftist political leaders.
Politics have taken over for facts, sci-
ence and morality. Propaganda rules
the country.
Bruce Finlay
Shelton