Civic duties include paying taxes, obeying laws, serving on juries and voting. Voting isn’t mandatory like the others, but it might as well be to me. I’m proud to be part of the electoral process and I take it very seriously.

I took time with the ballot last weekend, doing homework on the initiatives and the individual candidates — even though I had largely formed my opinions about them. I try to double-check things in my regular job, but this is a little more personal. 

Once I voted for a sheriff of a large county who told the public, after he was elected, that it wasn’t his job to uphold all laws. His job was to uphold the laws he agreed with. Never mind that deciding laws was the job of people elected to a different part of the government, he’d do what he wanted.

How did I make the mistake of voting for him? I’d gone with a friend to one of his small events. He spent 15 minutes with us, perhaps more. We agreed as we left that he seemed like he’d do a good job.

But, he had also lied and obfuscated during the conversation. Neither one of us caught the lie — one in particular — but we were aware that he’d dodged questions. That should have sent me back to the computer for additional research. Because there were things reported about him by respected news organizations that hinted strongly at what kind of leader he would be.

I know my vote didn’t put that guy in office but I’m still embarrassed to have voted for him.

And so it is that I take an extra minute with the ballot.

I know I’m not alone in that. This is a highly engaged community.   

Luckily, they also make it so easy to vote in Washington that there is time built in for homework. My ballot arrived in my mailbox about when they said it would. It had been preceded by the Voter’s Pamphlet, which is more aptly a 95-page magazine. The ballot had three components — a ballot, an envelope, and a sleeve. Fill out the ballot, fold it as shown, slip the sleeve over it and put in the envelope.The outside of the envelope has a place where you sign it. That signature can be matched to the one I used to register to vote. (That happened when I got my Washington driver’s license.) Then it’s as simple as sealing the envelope and putting it in the mailbox. That was true Oct. 28, which was the deadline for online and mail-in voting.

Now you have to drop the ballot off at a ballot box.

But even if you haven’t registered it still isn’t too late to vote in Washington. You can show up in person with proof of identity, register, get a provisional ballot and vote along with everyone else, up until 8 p.m. Nov. 5 when they lock the ballot boxes.

Washington is one of eight states and the District of Columbia that are vote-by-mail. While I’ve never minded going to the polls, time is an issue. I’ve thought about that every time a friend in another part of the country posts on social media about voting: “In and out in 45 minutes!” “About an hour and no problem parking.”

And, “No problems.” That post was from a former neighbor in Atlanta who is a poll watcher this year in DeKalb County, Georgia. As a state, Georgia might be the polar opposite of Washington when it comes to ease of voting.

What if, instead of getting your ballot delivered to your home, filling it out in your living room and mailing it or dropping it off at a ballot box, you drove to your longstanding polling place, parked, waited in line, and discovered you’d been removed from the rolls? It’s happening in Georgia, and it isn’t happening here. 

VOTE.