Even though Tuesday’s election is a primary, there are important issues to be decided by this election. We encourage you to get out and vote and help make some important decisions about our community.

We usually don’t get involved with endorsing local candidates and we are going to hold true to that philosophy regarding this election. We are however, encouraging a yes vote for the sinking fund millage request by Marquette Area Public Schools.

We published an editorial on July 26 with the reasons we support the sinking fund millage. We need to have strong schools and we believe that this sinking fund millage request is necessary to keep a strong school district in the future.

Remember that as a watchdog for taxpayer dollars, we wouldn’t endorse any type of a tax increase unless we clearly understood why it is needed and how it will be used.

In this case we have done our homework and we understand why the sinking fund millage is needed and we also understand how the money will be spent and we feel it is very much justified.

The Mining Journal has published candidate profiles over the past several weeks. We hope voters paid attention to the information included in those profiles.

The 40 Below group of young professionals also hosted a candidate forum on July 24, which should have helped people get a better understanding of the candidates and their respective platforms.

No matter what your personal decisions are regarding the election, please exercise the privilege you have to vote.

It is important to remember that if you don’t vote, you should not complain about the outcome of the election.