Too busy to vote today? Don’t like stopping by the polling place? Think your vote doesn’t matter?

Think again.

While tens of of thousands of Wyoming voters voted early or will cast ballots today (Tuesday), your vote can make a difference. Over the years, a lot of races have been decided by a few votes, sometimes just one.

In 1994, Jackson Hole-area voters faced a choice between Republican Randall Luthi and independent Larry Call for the House District 21 seat. They tied, and a recount could not break the deadlock.

In the end, the State Canvassing Board, adhering to state law and Western tradition, held a game of chance. Ping pong balls were placed in Gov. Mike Sullivan’s cowboy hat and when one bearing Luthi’s name was pulled out, he was “elected.”

At least two other Wyoming elections ended in ties and were decided in such a fashion, with the winning candidate drawing the high card. If one more person had voted for either candidate in all three of those races, luck would not have been the deciding factor.

Local races end in ties or disputes, and so do major ones. The presidency has been up for grabs after all the votes were counted in 1800, 1824, 1876 and 2000. It took special processes to determine whom the next president would be in all four elections.

In 2000, George W. Bush was elected with a controversial 537-vote margin in Florida out of more than 6 million cast in the state that year. That gave Bush enough votes in Electoral College to claim the presidency.

Take a few minutes to stop at the polls and vote. You may cast the deciding ballot in one of the races.

Don’t carelessly throw away your right to have a say. Vote.