“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” — Abraham Lincoln

What the 16th president of the United States was saying more than 150 years ago is that voter apathy more than anything else can destroy a democracy.

As citizens, it is our responsibility to cast a ballot for the candidate we believe will do the best job. The first step in that process is making sure you are registered to vote.

With technology, registering to vote or updating your voter information has been made even easier.

A downloadable registration application, which should be mailed or delivered to the Circuit Clerk in the county in which the voter resides, is accessible on yallvote.sos.ms.gov, the Secretary of State’s new online voter information center.

A voter updating their registration information on Y’all Vote must provide his or her county, name, date of birth and the last four digits of his or her social security number to locate previously-existing information in the Statewide Elections Management System. The voter must also be located in the Mississippi Department of Public Safety database by providing his or her name, address, date of birth and driver’s license or identification number exactly as the information appears on the Mississippi-issued license or ID. After the voter’s address or name is updated, the new information is electronically-transmitted to the Circuit Clerk of the voter’s county of residence.

It’s that simple.

We urge you to either go online and register or make the trip to Circuit Clerk Jan Daigre’s office in the Warren County courthouse and register. You only have until Monday at 5 p.m. in order to vote in the June 5 primary election.