Oh, For A Polling Place

Quite aside from the enhanced opportunities for ballot fraud and the abandonment of the civic rituals of voting in public, there is a bright side to this month’s vote-by-mail election in Washington state.

The forms and instructions in those mailed-out ballots are so awkward, so veiled in bureaucratic gibberish, they just might make people miss the noble simplicity of joining their neighbors at a polling place.

Who, for instance, is “CHAD”? According to the instructions, “CHAD” must be completely detached from the ballot before it is stuffed into the envelopes. Our best guess: “CHAD” is on the lobbying and public relations team for Seattle billionaire Paul Allen, who bought and paid for the election and the campaign.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board