The Right to Vote at a Polling Place

I live in Snohomish County, located in the northwestern region of Washington State. Last year our county government decided that all registered voters would vote absentee. This means that I no longer have the right to drive to my local school library or Sons of Norway Hall and take my place in a voting booth and cast my vote. No longer will little elderly ladies greet me, whose joy is to help voters in the voting process and then place an "I Voted" sticker on your shirt or jacket.
In this past election, taking place on November 6, 2007, we once again received our absentee ballots in the mail. My wife and I then dropped them off at our local QFC grocery store. I have no problem with soldiers, shut-in folks or people working long shifts, signing up for absentee ballots, but I have a major problem with every registered voter being required to vote in this manner.
I wonder if the absentee method is really that much of a money saver. Most of the women and men at the polling places were volunteers and let us just look at the votes sent out versus the votes sent back. About 34 percent of the 333,618 ballots sent out were returned. That leaves us with a grand total of 220,250 ballots that went into the trash. How is that good stewardship? The incredible waste of paper, not to mention the printing and postage costs.
It is believed that this absentee method will encourage more people to vote. Voting is a right and a privilege. There should be effort involved. Maintaining a republic is not easy. It takes work. It takes sweat. If people choose not to make this effort or take advantage of this right, then that is their choice and they have forfeit that right.
Chances are, the people who are sending in the absentee ballots were the same folks who were greeted by those dear volunteers. Voters who would trudge through the elements to claim their right to vote.