Don’t miss the chance to vote, and don’t forget your ID

Don’t miss the chance to vote, and don’t forget your ID

Normally on the day before an election we run an editorial urging citizens to avail themselves of one of democracy’s greatest rights, the right to vote.

It shouldn’t take much in this election season to get people out to the polls. Ohio is one of the hottest states in the nation in the Democratic presidential primary.

Each county in the area has at least one hotly contested primary race, and there are local tax issues to be decided in many districts.

If a voter isn’t inclined to go to the polls tomorrow, nothing we could say today is going to change his or her mind.

So we’ve chosen a different theme for today’s pre-election editorial: Don’t forget your ID.

Voters in Ohio must show some form of approved identification in order to be sure the vote they cast tomorrow will count.

Here are the types of documentation that will be required:

UCurrent and valid photo identification (i.e. Ohio driver’s license, state ID, government ID). Photo identification must show name and address (does not need to be current address for driver’s license); or

UA military identification that shows the voter’s name and current address; or

UA copy of a current utility bill (including cell phone bill), bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the voter’s name and current address (including from a public college or university). There is an exception: A voter cannot use as proof of identification a notice that the board of elections mailed to the voter.

Voters who do not provide one of these documents will still be able to vote by provisional ballot, and will have 10 days to provide the elections board with proof of identity.

We urge every registered voter to go the polls tomorrow and vote.

In the weeks leading up to the election, Vindicator editors conducted endorsement interviews with candidates in a number of races. Over the past two weeks, we have published editorials announcing our endorsements and giving explanations for our choices.

Here is a recap.

Mahoning County

Commissioner: Anthony T. Traficanti and John A. McNally IV.

Prosecutor: Paul J. Gains

Common Pleas Judge: John Jeffrey Limbian

Probate Court Judge: Mark Belinky

Trumbull County

Engineer: Randy L. Smith

Sheriff: Thomas L. Altiere

Columbiana County

Sheriff: Daniel MacLean III

We also endorsed passage of the quarter-percent sales tax that would fund the Western Reserve Transit Authority and allow development of an areawide mass transit system. And we urge voters to support their local school districts.