WA state is all vote by mail and I usually vote on election day. As long as it is postmarked by or on election day it's a valid legal vote. Please explain how that makes me a moron. What's the appropriate date for a non-moronic vote?
In my opinion, ballots that should be considered to be counted are in the possession of the county agency responsible for counting the ballots when the polls close on election day. This includes ballots cast that day at the polls, received by mail or hand delivered to a polling place or approved drop box or delivered to a representative of the county agency responsible for counting ballots.
Having ballots floating out there past the close of the polls opens the whole process to misconduct as new bins of previously uncounted ballots are "suddenly discovered" which conveniently tip the count in the favor of candidate who was previously losing.
Mail in ballots are sent out several weeks prior to the election giving the voters ample time to complete them and mail them in so they will arrive by election date. If a voter doesn't want to commit their vote early, they always have the option to show up on election day at a polling place to vote the traditional way or to hand deliver their mail in ballot to a poll worker.