Nothing says “fall” like pumpkin spice, cozy sweaters and carrying out your civic duty. That’s right, fall is voting season! And while there isn’t a presidential election every year, it’s important to remember the importance of the local elections that take place as well. Sure, you’re not casting a vote for the prime leader of the country, but casting votes for local and state leaders can make just as big an impact. As Americans, it is not only our right, but our duty to make our voices heard and invoke positive change for our country, and that change starts with the life around you.
Starting at a local city or town level, you may not tend to think that whoever gets elected as mayor or who gets put on city council is really a big deal. You could be looking at your ballot and think, “I don’t know a single one of these names listed!” When wondering what seats are up for grabs in your local community, this usually includes the position of mayor, city council members, school board members and county commissioners. You may not realize it, but all of these leaders are the ones left to make choices that directly impact your community (Raeth, 2025).
While, of course, your local leaders aren’t sitting in a big oval office or debating on the floor of the House or Senate and making crucial decisions about your Constitutional Rights, they still make impactful decisions for the city or town where you live. These include decisions on public safety, education, infrastructure and public works, housing and zoning, and taxes and budgeting (Raeth, 2025).
State elections consist of electing people for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state senators and state representatives. State governments are modeled very closely to the Federal Government, but instead of dealing with issues that concern the whole country, their focus is on statewide issues. There are certain powers that are left up to the state, which include establishing local governments, regulating intrastate commerce, ratifying Constitutional Amendments, providing for public health and safety, regulating marriage and divorce and issuing licenses (O’Leary, 2025). This is all just the tip of the iceberg, and there are plenty of resources out there that can help you learn more.
I know this may seem very overwhelming. However, I’m not expecting you to become the most politically informed person overnight. What you can do is visit websites like Ballotpedia to keep track of when elections where you live take place and who is on your ballot, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of your elected officials from local to federal levels, and Vote.org to check to see if you are registered to vote and register if you’re not already! We live in a time where so many rights are at stake. It’s up to us to advocate and vote for the right people to represent us and the issues we care about in official capacities.
