Think your vote doesn’t matter, or that there’s no reason to participate in the election process as long as others remain involved?

Numbers from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office indicate it’s time to think again.

Now that all the dust has settled and all canvasses have been completed, results of last Nov. 2’s election in Ohio included a 18 tied races.

Those races, according to LaRose, had to be determined by coin flip or some other similar method.

Among them was a race in nearby Noble County, and also one just to our west in Guernsey County.

If just one more person had decided to vote in either of those races, such a decision-making process would not have been necessary.

Automatic recounts are quite common in our local elections because the results of contests are so close. That is true in races between candidates, and also in question about issues on the ballot.

Getting registered to vote and then casting a ballot is a fairly simple process. It can be completed at your county board of elections office. Or, for convenience, it can be done online and by mail.

The public frequently points out what they don’t like in how governments run things.

But all that complaining means nothing if we don’t put our votes where our mouths are on election days.

Next time around, get educated, get involved and then exercise your right and privilege to vote.

You may make a bigger difference than you think.