Voting is one of the most important tasks a citizen of this country can perform, and because of that I was heartened to see how many people had voted Oct. 8, the first day of early voting in Park County. 

However, for voters who are able to wait and vote closer to Election Day, if not on Nov. 5, there is a benefit: You’ll have more information at your disposal with which to make a decision.

For instance, a local parent group held the second forum of the year for Park County School District 1 board candidates Oct. 9, a day after opening day for early voting. It was too late for those 198 people who voted that Tuesday — and certainly more who voted Wednesday — to be able to take anything from that forum into the voting booth. 

And even though we live in an overwhelmingly Republican state which can lead partisan races to appear all but decided after the primary election, there are still important votes to make. 

There's a question on a constitutional amendment that would separate residential from other property for property tax purposes, a vote on renewing the 2% lodging tax and a number of competitive special district board races, not to mention that oh-so-important presidential race. 

Now I’m sure a lot of people have already made up their minds on some of the races, but if you’re unsure about others, take the time to learn more about the candidates and issues. And maybe organizations, including the Tribune, should be getting out more information earlier to account for the growing popularity of early voting. But we get busy, too, and sometimes it’s hard to break the traditional schedules we’ve built up over the years. 

Early voting certainly has its place, but I encourage people to take the time to know the issues you’re voting on. I’m sure you’ve noticed ads and letters we’ve been publishing for and against the lodging tax, as well as letters regarding the constitutional amendment. I expect those to continue to come in. 

Do you want to know more about candidates for school board beyond the two forums? The Tribune started releasing stories on the candidates in the Oct. 10 paper, with more coming. Stories about the candidates in the competitive Northwest College board, mayoral and city council races will also be published within the next couple of weeks, while a Northwest College Board of Trustees forum is scheduled for Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. in the Fagerberg Building.