Our Viewpoint

To be honest, having Monday as a holiday was a little inconvenient for some of us. I checked the mail each day looking for my ballot. The anticipation was exciting. It's a little comparable to kids on Christmas morning, or many of us next week when we start to get our packages from Amazon Prime Days.

I've been an absentee voter for several years, and I appreciate that our county commissioners and elections staff chose an all-mail election this year. I feel like I make more informed choices when I sit down with my voter pamphlet (the official document you got from the state in the mail earlier this month) and have some time to research candidates and issues. Ballot initiatives sometimes are written in such a confusing manner that it was overwhelming in the poll booth trying to figure out if a Yes or No vote was what I was trying to convey.

Election season is overwhelming this year. We have been bombarded with ads on television and radio attacking the records or morals of competitors. We're all Americans, but it still feels like if you aren't this way or that way, you're wrong. Will that change after the election is over? We sure hope so. We need to come together as a community and as a nation, but there's no way that can happen with the division being thrown in our faces.

So getting that ballot in the mail was really exciting. We are voting for the people who will make and enforce the laws that will drive how we live, how we grow locally and nationally, and how the division we see will be resolved.

I have already dropped my ballot in the drop box outside the courthouse. If you want to go in and cast a ballot in person, you can do that too. The county elections staff has done so much preparation and worked hard to make the all-mail election run smoothly.

The most important thing is that you vote. Inform yourself about your candidates, cast your ballot and be part of the change you want to see in the world.