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If you're an Ohio resident and are planning to vote in this year's primary election and you are not registered, you are running short on time.
Tuesday is the deadline to have the needed paperwork in order if you want to be able to cast a ballot on March 19. Officials with the election boards in Jefferson and Harrison counties report they will be open until 9 p.m. that day to help you complete that task.
This is a presidential election year, which means there's a little more attention being placed on the upcoming primary votes. And while Republican voters will see five names on their ballot on March 19, the reality is only two of the candidates -- Donald Trump and Nikki Haley --are still campaigning for the nomination.
Another reality is that, unless there is some sort of huge miracle for Haley, Trump is all but assured of winning the party's nomination.
Those who choose a Democrat ballot, meanwhile, will see two names -- Joe Biden and Dean Phillips -- but, just like with the GOP, the reality is Biden is cruising toward being his party's nominee for the November general election.
Which means voters should be able to look even more closely at the several local races. Except in the primary, there's only one contested spot. That's on the Republican side, where primary voters will be looking to decide whether Raymond Freund of Bloomngdale or Ron Kleineke of Richmond will move on to the general election in the race for the Jan. 2 seat on the Jefferson County commissioners. That winner will face Thomas "Bo" Graham of Steubenville in the Nov. 5 election.
Graham is unopposed on the Democrat side in that race.
The other candidates seeking county offices will all advance to the fall. Things do get a little more interesting when you move into the state offices and the battle for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Sherrod Brown.
That race will not only be of interest inside the state -- the winner in the fall could help decide which party will control the Senate.
Brown, who lives in Cleveland and has held the seat since 2007, faces no opposition from his own party in the primary, but there are three Republicans who will be looking to go against him in the fall. GOP voters will be choosing among Matt Dolan of Chagrin Falls, Frank LaRose of Columbus and Bernie Moreno of Westlake in the primary.
Voters in both parties will be choosing nominees for 6th District House seat that had been held by Bill Johnson before he resigned to become the president at Youngstown State University.
Because of the timing of Johnson's decision to leave and the desire to fill the seat as soon as possible, voters will face a unique circumstance when it comes to voting for that position -- they will have to vote twice, once to select the candidates for the June 11 special election which will be held to fill Johnson's unexpired term , and once to select the candidates who will run for the next full term, which will begin on Jan. 3.
In both cases, the candidates are the same -- Michael Rulli of Salem, Reggie Stolzfus of Minerva and Rick Tsai of East Palestine on the GOP side, and Rylan Z. Finzer of Bedford Heights and Michael L. Kripchak of Youngstown on the Democrat side.
There will be some interesting races on the West Virginia side this spring. The primary in the Mountain State will be held May 14, and, just like Ohio, a lot of attention will be centered on the U.S. Senate race. It's a wide-open battle, with three Democrats and seven Republicans listed on the secretary of state's website as candidates in the primary.
Among the most notable candidates running on the Republican side are current Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, who represents the 2nd West Virginia District, which includes the Northern Panhandle.
Just like in Ohio, it's a race that will attract a lot of attention nationally. The candidate who wins in November will replace Joe Manchin, the longtime Democrat who has chosen to not seek re-election, but whose name continues to pop up when discussion turns to a possible candidate for the No Labels ticket. With Justice forced out of the governor's seat through term limits, the stage also is set for a pretty wide open race for that post, with six Republicans, one Democrat and one representative from the Mountain Party all listed as candidates for the primary.
And, with Mooney running for the Senate, that leaves the 2nd District seat up for grabs, with five Republicans and a Democrat all listed as candidates on the secretary of state's website.
The deadline to register to vote in West Virginia's primary is April 23.
While there are a lot of races of regional and statewide interest in the ballots this spring, there are many races that will have a direct effect on how our county government is run.
Voters in Jefferson County also are being asked to approve a 1.2-mill, five-year property tax replacement to provide senior services. Residents who live in areas served by the TEMS Joint ambulance district will be asked to approve a 2-mill continuing property tax replacement that will help that agency continue to provide emergency services. And, residents of Knox Township will be asked to OK an additional 0.5-mill, four-year property tax that will cover current expenses.
Your opinions don't mean a whole lot, though, if you are not registered to vote -- and again, the deadline in Ohio is Tuesday, with early voting beginning Wednesday.
If you don't want to vote in the primary, but want to vote in the June 11 special election, the deadline to register will be May 13.
And, if you are looking to sit out both of those elections and want to wait until the fall to vote, the deadline to register for the Nov. 5 general election in Ohio will be Oct. 7.
Make sure you learn about the candidates and the issues, and then get out and vote.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times)