Those of us living in Central Indiana have endured a bombardment of political advertising.  This is not just happening on television, it’s also everywhere you go online.

It’s easy to tune out all campaigning because we have so many offices at stake.  The polsters measuring such things tell us voters have the highest negative views of both major party presidential candidates in the history of scientific polling.

Keep in mind that there are many other offices up for election this cycle.  County offices are on the ballot, along with members of the Indiana General Assembly, governor, state attorney general and United State Senate.  Just because you may have soured on the top race involving presidential candidates, keep in mind these other offices will have an impact on your life for the coming four years.

There are three county council seats on the ballot, and even if you vote a straight party ticket, you must still select county council candidates individually….for some reason, your straight party vote will not register for that office.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse on this, but your school board election is one of the most important.  For people living in Fishers, and some of the outlying rural areas, you will be voting on Hamilton Southeastern candidates from all three townships.  I recorded podcast interviews will all 9 school board candidates, and, so far, there have  been over 740 plays of all the 9 podcasts total.  For a local set of podcasts, that is a high number.  It tells me people are tuned-in to the local school board election.  That’s a good thing.  Just remember that the school board election is toward the end of the voting process.  Don’t skip over it as you record your vote.

I have covered just about all levels of government in Indiana, first during the 1970s into 1983, then the last four years covering Fishers in this news blog.  One theme always rings true – it makes a difference when you cast your vote.  These office holders will be making decisions impacting your day-to-day life.

Bottom line, your vote makes a difference…a big difference.  We have had past elections in the old town of Fishers decided by margins as small as 4 votes.

The long lines at the early voting venues in Hamilton County illustrate that people care about this election.  That’s a good thing. but the local election board needs to look into expanding the early voting venues and finding ways to shorten the wait times for future balloting.

I plan to be in Noblesville n election night to cover results of our local school board election.  I also have an early morning commitment on Wednesday, so if things go really late (and they may) I will have to retire early and post final results early Wednesday morning.