If you live south of the Roy-Y, roughly 192nd Street in Spanaway, you may have noticed there isn’t anywhere convenient to drop off your ballot this year. The Roy-Y Park & Ride has a ballot drop box. There is also a ballot drop box at the South Hill Library at about 152nd and Meridian. Between those two places and Barney’s Corner (at about 406th and Meridian where it joins with the Eatonville Cut Off Road), there is nothing.

Yes, if you do the math, that is 254 blocks south on Meridian from the South Hill Library. So for those you in Graham, Kapowsin, Tanwax, Lacamas, Rocky Ridge, Elk Plain, Harts Lake, Roy, McKenna, Elbe, Ashford, Orting, Wilkeson, or Carbonado you better commute to work in the north end of the county or plan to purchase a stamp for your ballot. The community of Summit sits in a gaping void as well. From the online maps, it appears to be an area of about 240 square miles without a drop box.

Where we used to have booths, they no longer exist. Where we used to have polls, of course, only a few “voting centers” have been created. Those Voting Centers are open Nov. 3, 5 and 6. The closest one to the south end of the county is the new road shop called the Central Maintenance facility near 200th Street and Canyon Road. They are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on those days. You can go there to cast your ballot electronically or drop off your absentee form filled out and signed.

The lack of ballot drop off locations will likely be reflected in the voter turnout numbers as well. The Post will be watching this. If you think that a suggest to the Auditor’s office regarding the lack of drop box locations in the south part of the county is worth some effort, you can call the election center at 253-798-7430. We deserve better.