At the national level, the electoral college screws people over. A minority party’s votes basically don’t count for the presidency- it’s a winner take all system and it feels like there’s very little change thereafter.

This is especially the case in New York, which hasn’t voted Republican since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 electoral sweep. Republican governors here are also rare these days.

But what if I told you that voting is still important?

The title is not a typo. There are elections going on today on Long Island.

Right next door to us is the race for Nassau County District Attorney. Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas (Democrat), a prosecutor with 24 years of experience, is up against Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray (Republican). The last poll says they are virtually tied. Murray has 46 percent, while Singas has 45 percent and 9 percent are undecided.

It’s a battle between a supposed leadership vision and actual experience in a courtroom, a proven executive against an expert in judiciary matters.

The election of Kate Murray, a Republican, would be a major win for Republicans in the state. The fact Murray is Town Supervisor of Hempstead, one of the biggest towns in New York, is already big. A victory in the District Attorney race is the only way she can get higher. This is something Republicans want.

Yet it could also do something unprecedented: put someone without prosecutorial experience in charge of trying to determine what cases the county should prosecute. It could also change the legal atmosphere, indirectly affecting what a judge might decide, what cases are settled, and who’s prosecuted. Heroin and corruption are two huge issues that could be impacted here.

Here’s something noteworthy: New York, overall, has been almost the worst in the nation for midterm voter turnout. And in the first three and a half hours of voting at Lakeville Elementary School today, only 15 people showed up.

This means a handful of votes might make a difference.

County legislatures can also be changed. All 18 seats are on the ballot in Suffolk; if Republicans pick up one seat, it’ll end a 12-6 Democratic supermajority that overrules GOP objections in spending. Republicans in Nassau, meanwhile, are trying to take a seat from Democrats to get a supermajority in spending matters.

You also have a myriad of Town Supervisor and Town Board races that will determine how towns handle their local budgets and what will be prioritized.

The Riverhead and Brookhaven races come to mind. Do you want to see spending slashed or expanded? What do you want to see cut or grown? There’s even County Executive races worth checking into, even if the incumbent seems secure.

The right to safely vote without coercion is unique. And for a great portion of our history, not everyone was allowed to do so. It’s imperative we, as young people who rarely exercise that right, actually decide to vote.

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Originally published here.