Hopefully by the time you’re reading this you’ve already voted or are planning to go before the 7 p.m. Tuesday deadline. If so, thank you, for you are participating in one of the most important acts of a citizen in a constitutional republic.

Judging by the number of people who had voted early in person via absentee ballot, the general election should finish with a good turnout compared to previous off-presidential years, but there are still many people who don’t vote. In this day and age, with political ads swamping seemingly every online site, social media platform and TV screen — although more so here in the primary election — it would be surprising to hear that a lot of people truly had no idea what was going on. Yet many people still don’t vote. 

And ironically, more people flock to the ballots for the nationwide issues such as a presidential election, while their vote arguably matters more — like one out of 1,000 votes instead of one out of hundreds of millions — at the local level. 

And while partisan races around here may be all but decided after the primary — which did have a large turnout — Powell area voters still had important decisions to make, such as who would help lead the local school system, the college and the hospital. Bills and laws in Washington, D.C. may get all of the air time, but I’d guess that for most people, a vote by the school board would have more local impact, whether its on children, grandchildren, themselves as an employee or even as a contractor who may be hired to renovate a building thanks to an aye vote by the board. 

Hopefully all who voted were informed as well, especially informed at the local level. National issues have deservedly been discussed at forums this fall, but they shouldn’t overshadow local issues. So thank you to those who voted, you have upheld one of your sacred duties as a citizen of the USA, Wyoming,  and of Park County and Powell. 

Thank you as well to all of the candidates who ran, leading to an unusually large number of candidate forums — by the way, thanks to those who held all of the forums — and faced often critical and tough questions. 

And, of course, thanks to the county elections staff who have verified equipment and spent long hours ensuring the early, absentee and Election Day voting has gone smoothly.