This year’s presidential election is historic in more ways than one as both the former president, and presumptive Republican nominee, and the son of the current president, who is running for a second term, now stand convicted of multiple felony offenses by juries of their peers. As pundits on both sides of the aisle attempt to castigate the justice system in one case while lauding it in the other, it’s important we don’t let the acrimony of national politics overshadow important local elections.

Yes, voters will head to the polls in November to cast their ballots for the next president of the United States, but several crucial local races will also be featured on the ballot.

This year’s ballot will include races for several seats on the Lauderdale County School Board. The five-member board is responsible for setting policy governing the education of more than 5,900 local students and is set to spend more than $18 million in local tax dollars alone in the 2025 fiscal year.

Also on the ballot will be several election commissioners, who play a crucial role in protecting the integrity of our elections and ensuring our rights to vote are respected. The five commissioners are responsible for recruiting and training poll workers, testing and calibrating voting machines, overseeing voting precincts and producing timely, accurate and verifiable election results.

The November ballot will also include candidates for Lauderdale County tax assessor and state Supreme Court justice, as well as of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats and four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Speaking to local officials Monday, state Sen. Jennifer Branning, an attorney from Philadelphia who is running for the Supreme Court seat, pointed out that Mississippi has a population of around 3 million, but cases heard before the highest court in the state are heard by just three justices. Who those justices are, Branning said, can make a big difference in the lives of everyday Mississippians.

It is easy to get overwhelmed in the hyperpartisan political arena that dominates national elections, be discouraged by the lack of rational discussion and common sense policy or even feel as if your vote does not matter.

But it does. Your vote does matter, and nowhere more so than at the local level.

Local candidates need voters to weigh in on issues. They need feedback to know where they’re on the same page as the community and where they’ve gone off script.

Most of all, local candidates need your votes. Our system of representative democracy is dependent on voters turning out to support the candidate of their choosing, making the winner of each race the one chosen by the majority. When voters stay home, it increases the odds of a candidate with less support winning the election.

November may seem like a long way off, but it will be here before we know it. Use this time to brush up on our local elected officials, make sure voter registrations are in order and make a plan to get to the polls on Nov. 5.

Your candidates and your community need you to vote.