By this point, this message is getting repetitious, but here goes one last time for this election cycle:

If you’ve returned your ballot for this month’s primary election, good work. If not, you’ve got about a week to fill it out and return it. Those ballots need to be in one of the county’s ballot drop-off boxes or postmarked by 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 21. (If you’re worried about mail delivery, that’s understandable — but make plans to return your ballot to a drop-off box before May 21. Their locations are listed in the related story.)

Don’t have your ballot yet? Then it’s time to call the Wallowa County clerk’s office to ask about it. Call 541-426-4543, ext. 1158.

The bottom line is that you want to be sure that your voice is counted in this election.

Consider the stakes: The primary election will decide which two of the five candidates for the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners’ Position No. 1 will advance to the November general election. It will decide if Susan Roberts, the commissioner who holds down the No. 2 position, will win reelection.

Throughout Northeast Oregon, the primary will decide the winner of the four-candidate GOP race for Senate District 29, the legislative seat held by the retiring Bill Hansell — and the Republican winner is all but certain to win the seat in November.

And, of course, there’s a compelling race in the 10th Judicial District, where incumbent Judge Wes Williams faces a challenge from attorney Jared Boyd. That race almost certainly will be settled in the primary.

Unless you want to argue that the county commission, the courts and the Legislature don’t matter, don’t waste your breath trying to make the case that this election isn’t important. And don’t be saying that one or two votes won’t make a difference — just recall last year’s vote on the county Greater Idaho measure.

Now, maybe you’re worried about the possibility of voting fraud. Despite persistent (and irresponsible) accusations, here are the facts: Oregon’s vote-by-mail system is incredibly secure and voter fraud is exceedingly rare. A 2020 audit by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Office identified 38 criminal convictions related to voter fraud between 2000 and 2019 — out of 60.9 million ballots cast in Oregon during the same time. That works out to a rate of about 0.0000006%. (A similar review by the conservative Heritage Foundation found that election fraud nationally was nearly as rare.)

That doesn’t mean that some candidates aren’t trying to stoke baseless fears about election fraud. Pay no mind to this rank fearmongering.

(On a related note, it is disappointing that the three Republican candidates for secretary of state in this election all are calling for the state to junk its vote-by-mail system. Perhaps they forget their history — the last two GOP secretaries of state were vote-by-mail boosters, including Dennis Richardson, the only GOP candidate elected to a statewide position this century. And rock-solid Republican Linn County is the spiritual home of Oregon’s vote-by-mail system.)

The truth is that county election officials throughout the state (and the nation) work hard to ensure fair and secure elections. These workers are on the front lines of democracy and they deserve our thanks — and support.

So worries about virtually nonexistent voter fraud aren’t any reason not to take advantage of your fundamental right to vote. In fact, Oregon has done well in making it as easy as possible to exercise our essential franchise. You can return the favor by making sure your ballot is in by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21.

Ballot drop-off boxes

Three 24-hour ballot drop-off boxes are located in Wallowa County:

• Outside the Wallowa County Courthouse, 101 S. River St., Enterprise.

• Outside Joseph City Hall, 201 N. Main St., Joseph.

• Outside Wallowa City Hall, 104 N. Pine St., Wallowa.