Voters should make voices heard

Today is Election Day, a day when folks across the county will have a chance to make their voices heard.

This isn’t the presidential election people have been talking about for months. This isn’t the election where voters in Indiana will choose a governor and a U.S. senator. That election is still a year away, though it’s sometimes hard to tell it by watching the news.

No, this election, in some ways, is even more important. This is an election to choose officials who will be making decisions about matters close to home. Voters in Logansport will elect a mayor and six of the seven members of the city council. Those in Galveston will elect three town council members, and those in Royal Center will elect a clerk-treasurer.

It would be nice, of course, to have even more races on the ballot. Several offices are already filled because only one candidate stepped forward to put his or her name on the ballot. Still, it’s important that voters weigh in on the contests that remain.

Unlike those state and national candidates on next year’s ballot, the folks we’ll be deciding on today will be people you might even know, people who might have actually knocked on your door and shaken your hand.

And yet, lots of us will pass up the opportunity to cast a ballot. While our neighbors are voting or maybe even doing some last-minute campaigning, some of us will be simply too busy to make the trip to the polls.

That’s unfortunate.

The officials who will be elected today are the ones who handle the issues that should be closest to our hearts. They're the ones who decide how your local tax dollars are spent, and they're the ones who will make the biggest difference in bringing jobs to the local community.

For some of us, the election is already over. Many have been casting absentee ballots since the beginning of the month.

Others, though, are just now tuning in.

If you’re in that latter category, it's not too late to do your homework. We’ve assembled information you might find helpful in a voters’ guide at pharostribune.com. You might also be able to find  information on the candidates’ websites.

However you do it, take the time to make an informed choice, and then get out and cast your ballot.