Watching the GOP presidential candidates compete for  delegates in the primaries across the United States, some people in Alabama may wonder how much our votes will matter.

In an effort to make our voice more relevant, state leaders pushed our party primaries up to March 13. We’ll go to the polls much earlier this year, casting ballots in a hotly contested Republican Party primary, knowing all the while that Alabama’s 50 delegates pale in comparison Georgia’s 75, Texas’ 152, or Florida’s 99 delegates.

And as we’ve watched the Republican candidates battle in this “key battleground states” of Florida, South Carolina, Iowa and others, the campaign efforts in Alabama have been a largely grass-roots effort.

We won’t see Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul or Rick Santorum spending time –or much money – in our state.

That’s the nature of 21st Century politics. Candidates in the presidential race invest their time, their energy and their effort in states which can yield the biggest payoff at the convention in an attempt to gain the nomination.

That’s why it’s incumbent on each voter to become educated about the presidential hopefuls – to learn their platforms, their character, their reasons for wanting to lead our country. And it’s incumbent for each of us to make informed decisions when we step in the polls on March 13.

After all, our democracy depends on it.