Suppression? Don’t do it to yourself: Vote!

If you are registered to vote, today is the day when your voice truly matters.

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For 24 hours, you have an infinitely more powerful way to have your voice heard.

If you are registered to vote, today is the day when your voice truly matters.

At the polling place, when we take part in that sacred, special right bestowed upon us by the Constitution.

Today is the midterm election. Routinely, it does not attract anywhere near the number of voters as usually flock to the polls in presidential years.

You can make the argument that this year, that might actually not be the case. A lot of people are framing this as a referendum on the first two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

We’ll leave that question for tomorrow. For today, here is what is at stake.

Pennsylvanians will elect a governor, with incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf being challenged by former state Sen. Scott Wagner. Call this one the Battle of York, where the two men, both of whom made their fortunes in business, hail from. Kenneth Krawchuk is the Libertarian candidate.

The entire state also will select one of our two U.S. Senators. Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey Jr. is jousting with Republican U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta. Green Party candidate Neal Gale and Libertarian Dale Kerns Jr. also are on the ballot.

Voters will also elect new members of Congress. In Delaware County, Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon is facing Republican Pearl Kim in what amounts to an open seat in the 5th District.

This new 5th District was created after the state Supreme Court threw out the old congressional districts as being unconstitutionally gerrymandered. Some voters actually will vote twice in U.S. House races. Scanlon and Kim also are vying to fill the vacant seat in the old 7th District.

That seat has been vacant since April, when 7th District U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan resigned amid reports that he used taxpayer dollars to settle a harassment claim filed by a former staffer.

If you lived in the 7th District, which includes parts of Berks, Chester, Montgomery and Lancaster counties, in addition to Delaware County, you also will vote in that 7th District special election. It’s important because the winner of the special election likely will take the oath of office later in the week, giving them seniority over the other new members of Congress who won’t be sworn in until the next session in January.

There are also a slew of local races for the state Legislature on today’s ballot. All 203 seats in the House are up for grabs today. Half of the 50 seats in the Pa. Senate also will be decided.

Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the Pennsylvania Legislature.

Interest in the midterm vote appears high. That would be a change of pace from recent primaries and midterms, where a disinterested electorate, without the carrot of a presidential race to draw them to the polls, stayed away in droves.

In the spring primary, four out five voters failed to exercise their constitutional right.

In the midterms, the numbers have historically not been a lot better. The heated talk leading up to today’s vote suggests those numbers might change. The specter of Donald Trump – regardless of whether you support him or not – conjures of visions of a Blue Wave if you’re a Democrat, or a Red Tide if you are a Republican seeking to keep control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Once again there are reports of possible voter suppression in some key, heated races. It’s being debated in places like Florida and Georgia. It was just a few years ago when the courts knocked down a law in Pennsylvania requiring a photo ID to be able to vote.

But the person most responsible for voter suppression could just be the person staring back at you in the mirror this morning.

All you have to do is fail to vote.

Don’t let that happen. Take part in the process. Make your voice heard where it really counts — at the polling place.

Vote.