This is in response to the letter to editor in the Nov. 7 edition about mail-in ballots. I'd like to dispel the myths. First of all, if someone were foolish enough to commit a federal offense and steal somebody's ballot from their mailbox, it would do no good. Forging somebody's signature when you haven't seen it would be challenged by the auditor, as obviously it'd be a forgery. As for outgoing ballots, voters could use the dropbox. Only 1 percent of the ballots were challenged in the last primary, due to either signatures not matching or no signature. Those people are contacted and given 21 days to submit the correct signature. If they don't, the ballots are tossed. Much less than 1 percent were eventually tossed.

As for the elderly in nursing homes, employees can always help them with the ballots.

And as for the drop box possibly being vandalized, it's made of hardened steel, sunk deep in the ground. A bomb wouldn't even budge it.

Mail-in ballots have increased voter participation greatly, and save the county a lot of money. And they leave a paper trail, something which is needed, especially after all the fraud that has occured with electronic polls.

Wallace Callow

Bellingham