Early voting is under way in several area municipalities.

The City of Valdosta has contested races for mayor and city council Districts 1, 3 and 7. The City of Hahira has contested races for city council Districts 2 and 3. The City of Dasher has contested races for city council Districts 3 and 4. And the City of Remerton has a contested race for an at-large city council position.

The Nov. 7 Election Day will be here before you know it but more and more people have opted to cast a ballot during the early voting period and why shouldn’t they?

It is convenient, lines are not long and you can do it at various times through the day during the three weeks that have been set aside for early voting.

We encourage our readers to be informed voters. No one should vote for someone simply because they think the candidate is a nice person, they attend church together, are in the same civic club, are relatives or part of a certain social circle.

You should vote for the person you think will do the best job. Campaigns should be considered job interviews. Elections should be more about principle than politics.

The vote is our ultimate recourse.

You may have concerns regarding how city government is doing the people’s business. You may have concerns about government transparency, government spending, city taxes, business regulations or government services.

Who do you support? Do you know the positions of the candidate(s) you support on these and other relevant issues facing our community?

We hope turnout is robust this go-round. It is disheartening that only a small portion of registered voters tend to make it to the polls.

Voting is a right and a privilege.

Be informed. Make wise decisions based on ideologies, past performance, platforms and matters of principle, rather than on personality, popularity or party alone.

Then, go vote.

Early voting started Oct. 16 and will continue until Nov. 3, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. plus Saturday, Oct. 28, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lowndes County Elections Office, 2808 N. Oak St.

On Election Day, any voters who haven’t cast ballots early can do so at their respective precincts, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.