Voters in Pike County and across America will go to the polls on Tuesday with important decisions at hand.

From statewide offices to local races, dozens of offices are on the ballot. And, while many voters may be tempted to vote a straight party ticket to simplify the confusing ballot, we encourage you to thoughtfully consider your votes before you cast them.

Each of the races on the ballot is critical, from the statewide gubernatorial and attorney general races to the more local circuit judge seat. You owe it to yourself as a voter, a taxpayer and a resident, to study each of the candidates separate from his or her party line and to vote based on the person you think will be the best for the office. You may decide throughout that process that a straight party vote is best; or you may decide not. Either way, you need to make the decision yours.

And, you need to study the amendments on the ballot. One, in particular, could prove important to Pike County. Amendment No. 3 would allow use of rainy day trust fund savings for road and bridge repairs throughout the state. Although some of the details about the distribution process remain vague, and even though Pike County leaders haven’t provided clear plans for how those funds could be used, we believe the amendment at this time offers the state’s best alternative to generating much-needed funding for state road and bridge repairs.

The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. That means you have 12 hours to cast your vote in what has become one of the most important mid-term elections in our nation’s history. With control of the U.S. House of Representatives at stake, a state Legislature reeling from a vote-buying scandal and series of indictments, and a sweeping momentum of change in our nation, this election will be critical to charting the course of our democracy for the next two years, and well into the future.

Make sure your voice is heard; go vote.