This editorial appeared in the Tri-City Herald on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.
We'd all like a flawless voting system, but we know it's impossible.
Recent articles about some Benton County voters mistakenly taken off the voter registration lists are a good reminder of that simple fact.
If the four people who've talked about their voting troubles with Herald reporter Franny White represented the full extent of Benton County's problem, it would be a truly remarkable achievement.
Four voters equal less a thousandth of 1 percent of the 86,000 ballots Benton County election officials have mailed to voters.
But of course, more mistakes than that were made, if not in Benton County, then certainly in other parts of the state.
Secretary of State Sam Reed's office reports a record number of registered voters this year - more than 3.5 million.
On top of that, there's been an unprecedented effort to purge voter registration rolls of ineligible voters, opening another avenue for error.
Removing the deceased, duplicate registrations and felons from Washington's voting lists is a good thing.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Tri-City Herald.