The polls are closed. The ballots have been cast. The votes have been counted. It’s over! And the winner is. …

“Zits.”

What? You thought I was referring to the Anderson County Council? I’m referring to the comics.

You still think I’m referring to the county council? That’s funny.

This is serious. We have been conducting a comics survey for the past few weeks, and we have been poring over the votes that have been pouring in. There seems to be more interest in cartoon characters than, well … enough with the jabs at county council candidates. I’m jesting!

We asked readers to tell us their three favorite comics and their three least favorite comics. We asked because we have room for 24 comic strips, and we subscribe to 25. For the past seven weeks, we have not been running “Doonesbury.” Its creator has been on sabbatical. Fresh strips return Monday.

So if or when we bring “Doonesbury” back, something else has to give. And go.

As I often say, this isn’t my newspaper. I just work here, on your behalf. It’s your newspaper. I did not want to make this important decision unilaterally.

Readers have thanked me for asking for their input. Remember that Monday when you’re tempted to call me or write to complain that a strip you enjoy has been dropped.

We have received hundreds of responses, as we knew we would. Every strip received votes for and against. As I have said before, there’s a reason why Baskin-Robbins gives its customers 31 choices.

“Zits” indeed is the favorite, followed by “For Better or For Worse,” “Baby Blues” and (surprisingly) “Blondie.” We will drop “For Better or For Worse” this fall when its creator goes exclusively to reruns. We’ll offer readers a few choices of new strips later this summer, and another option will be to bring back the comic strip that we drop next week.

So which strip will we drop? This isn’t a simple decision. Some recent additions didn’t score well, but it takes time to develop a following, so it might seem too soon to pull the plug. Some strips that scored high among the unpopular also scored well among the popular.

We won’t drop “The Phantom.” The last time we surveyed readers, it didn’t score well, so we dropped it for a few weeks in April and then brought it back when we put “Doonesbury” on hiatus. Apparently fans of this strip have rallied to save it.

Meanwhile, did I say the polls are closed? Because so much is at stake (my job?), I’ll try to earn your vote of confidence by accepting votes one more day, as in today.

I’ll never make fun of folks who enjoy the funnies. I’m one of them. I love animated cartoons, too. A week after my wedding, my bride freaked when our alarm went off early on a Saturday morning. When I told her I couldn’t miss the “Smurfs,” she rolled her eyes, rolled over and mumbled something like, “What have I gotten myself into?”

As they say, growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.

Don Kausler Jr., editor of the Independent-Mail, can be reached at (864) 260-1249 or kauslerdh@IndependentMail.com.