In less than a week, Natchez voters will head to the polls to cast their ballots in our municipal election. And we just hope that all of the voters decide to use their heads as well as their hands to cast those votes.

As we inch ever closer to municipal election day, we encourage each and every city voter to make it a personal challenge to become informed about the candidates before heading to the polls.

Too often, we think, voters make choices based on name recognition or party affiliation and not on qualifications and experience.

And that’s a shame.

Our political process is as effective or ineffective as the people who mark the ballots on election day.

It may sound clich\u00E9 to say this, but the future of the City of Natchez really is at stake.

All elected positions in the city are up for re-election.

From the mayor and aldermen to the city clerk, each position on the ballot is important to the daily operation and future of our city government.

Each of these people is empowered by voters to either spend or oversee the spending of our tax money. And we’d like to think that voters will make intelligent decisions at the polls especially when it comes to the mayor’s race.

And there is no excuse for voters not having a good idea of where mayoral candidates stand on the issues.

If you missed the Natchez-Adams County Chapter of the NAACP’s candidates forum last night, don’t worry. Tomorrow at lunch, the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a meet the mayoral candidates segment as part of their annual membership luncheon.

We hope that voters will take the time to learn more about the races and the candidates. Our future is worth the small time investment.