Is it Nov. 9 yet?

OK, OK, there are some good things about election season. Our roads get paved, our community events draw crowds of elected leaders and wannabes and everyone spends time thinking up ideas to improve the quality of life around us.

No other time span in a four-year period draws quite so much community involvement, be it for the right or wrong reasons.

But, election season is also tough.

It’s tough, physically, on candidates who seek to walk neighborhood after neighborhood in blazing heat.

It’s tough mentally and emotionally for those candidates and their supporters who put so much time and energy into one single campaign.

And it’s tough for the rest of us who have to live through it.

Whether you are annoyed by the signs that litter the roadways, the knocks at your door in the middle of family time or negative TV ads that interrupt your favorite show, election season affects almost everyone.

Of course, many of you — and especially some candidates — simply seem to love it.

Just look at the crowds debating politics at the annual Neshoba County Fair this week.

But I like election season for only one reason — Election Day.

I didn’t get into newspaper reporting for the political side of things — gasp. Instead, my favorite thing to do is tell the stories of real people, the honest ones who aren’t campaigning.

I meet those folks every day of the year, thankfully.

But during an election season, I recognize the importance of spending time with the candidates, exploring their qualifications and fleshing out the promises they make.

Inevitably, someone runs for office with a negative personal or work background about which voters need to know in order to make his or her own informed decisions.

It’s part of how our nation’s political system works. Since nearly everyone can run for office, the only way for masses of voters to know important things about the candidates is through media outlets.

It’s still, ultimately, up to each individual voter to decide how important the past experiences, offenses or crimes of candidates are.

An uninformed electorate will make uninformed votes that could carry decades of damage.

So as the final six days before the primary election creep by, my eyes are still on Nov. 9 — the day after the general election, the day it’s finally all over.

I suffer through the campaigning, the mudslinging, the forums and the talks simply to get all that over with and get on to the fun and excitement of Election Day.

Election Day is all that matters, and it’s what will determine the future of any community.

Our community has a bright future, with the right leadership, that is.

The ballot is full of options, and it’s up to you to pick the right one.

We may not be able to grade the performance of this year’s voters on Nov. 9, but the answer will come soon enough.

Julie Cooper is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.