Next week’s election really is going to be a big one. By the time the election ends on Tuesday, well over $1 billion will have been spent by the campaigns, political action committees, and private interests. There is a lot at stake on issues ranging from health care, women’s rights, and energy, to the debt, unemployment, and the war on terror.

In other words, failing to vote should not be an option.

Here in Kentucky, it’s widely accepted that our eight or so electoral votes will go to former Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger. President Barack Obama is hardly popular in our neck of the woods, where coal jobs are on the decline and the president, rightly or not, has received most of the local blame via his policies regarding coal-fired power plants.

But regardless of what the polls say, the fact remains that this and every election is one in which every voice should be heard and every vote should be cast.

Here in Perry County, the presidential election is not the only race in which our voters will have a chance to have their say through the ballot box. Teresa Reed and John Hansen are vying for commonwealth’s attorney, while Charles Patterson and Tom Eckert are both in a contest for circuit clerk. Both of these are for six-year terms, and important offices in our local judicial system.

In the city of Hazard, there will be at least one new commissioner who will vote on issues in the city, including how the city’s money is spent. There could be up to two new commissioners, depending on how the votes total on Tuesday. For the future of Hazard, this is indeed an important race and one in which the city’s voters should turn out to the polls.

And in Vicco voters will choose a mayor to lead the city for the next four years.

In truth, there is too much at stake, both locally and on the national scene, not to vote. No matter your views, your politics, or your party, we urge you, on Nov. 6, to vote.

— The Hazard Herald