Whether or not mail-in voting will work in Robeson County, or North Carolina and the rest of the country, this election season is a matter of great debate. Some say it will be a resounding success and others say it will be an unmitigated disaster that could lead to a weekslong delay in learning who got elected to offices at all levels of government.

We’ll have to wait and see which viewpoint proves true.

While we’re waiting, voters who choose to vote by mail can do two things to help make the mail-in process succeed and ensure their ballots are counted, and counted on time: Vote early and secure their ballots.

Voting early is simple: Ask for a ballot as soon as possible, and then fill it out, sign it, get it witnessed and get in the mail without delay, or drop it off at the Board of Elections office.

Doing this could be critical because the longer voters wait, the more likely their ballots don’t get to the Elections Board in time to be counted. What could make this scenario more likely to happen is the sheer number of mail-in ballots expected to be circulating across the state in the weeks leading up to the election. Some political observers say as many as 500,000 ballots will enter the postal system in North Carolina on the first day they are mailed out. Only 231,000 were in play during the entire 2016 election.

Robeson County Board of Elections Director Tina Bledsoe has said steps are being taken to help ensure her office can handle what will be an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots. Her office plans to hire more staff to help count absentee and mail-in ballots and to obtain equipment to help get ballots and other information to voters faster.

These actions are certain help. But remember the local Elections Board also is at the mercy of a United States Postal Service that handles hundreds of millions of pieces of mail on a daily basis. Now add the hundreds of millions of ballots that will be in the mail across the nation this election season and it’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which ballots are lost or delayed.

No disrespect intended to the USPS offices in Robeson County.

So don’t wait. Get your ballots and get them back in the mail or to the elections office as quickly as you can. Doing this will help everybody at the USPS and the Elections Board do their jobs better, more accurately and more efficiently, and, more importantly, help ensure your votes are counted on time.

Making sure your voice is heard this election also involves securing your ballot. And that, too, is easy to do: Maintain control of your ballot. You get it, fill it out, sign it and have it witnessed properly, put it in the appropriate return envelope, make sure the proper information is on the envelope, and then mail it in, or take it personally to the Elections Board office.

The most important part of securing your ballot is not letting it be handled by anyone else, unless you trust that person implicitly.

A lot is at stake in this election. A lot of people already are almost rabidly vested in the election’s outcome, and the more unscrupulous among them could be driven to cheat.

Don’t let them cheat off you. Don’t give someone your ballot and, thereby, your voice. Secure your ballot and get it in the mail as early as you can.