The pressing issue of our time is financial. Affecting households trying to keep the bills paid and governments trying to keep the streets paved, the economy is the driving force for our continued solvency.

The electorate slowly has been waking up to government’s addiction to spending and entitlements. Difficult choices will have to be made soon. The pain will be spread throughout society because, in the end, the spending and debt will get us.

Nationally, a new Congress has taken over signaling their desire to cut federal spending. The mandate came in the form of an overwhelming national victory by House Republicans and a shrinking of the Democrats’ advantage in the Senate.

We would hope the electorate is more informed than ever and will not let political leaders get away with the shenanigans they’ve embraced for years. We would hope that same electorate gets even more informed. In less than 11 months, local and statewide offices will be up for grabs. Some candidates have announced their intentions to seek office. Now it is up to the people to take seriously the most solemn duty of all Americans — the power of the vote.

Don’t wait. Don’t be ill-informed. Don’t let the sound-bite culture and catchy advertisements sway decisions in the voting booth. Become informed starting today. Read and listen to all sides.

The experiment known as America started with an odd notion of the people governing instead of the people being governed. In almost 230 years, Americans have elected leaders both competent and dunce. Their decisions as our representatives have, and always will, play a role in how we all live our lives.

Don’t let ignorance rule the day. Eleven months seems like a long time to many, but in today’s fast-paced world, it will go by in the blink of an eye.

And we hope every citizen who enters a polling place in November is well-informed about candidates and issues. The continued success of our society hangs in the balance.

Pay attention, then vote.