There are plenty of reasons to get to the polls Tuesday and we’ll list just a few:

• Greg Abbott or Lupe Valdez for governor.
• Ted Cruz or Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate.
• Jeff Branick or Nick Lampson for county judge.
• Randy Weber or Adrienne Bell for the U.S. House.

And so forth. (That doesn’t include candidates from other parties.)

Political choices abound and they’ll likely affect your lives in ways you cannot imagine. There’s a tax rollback in the Port Neches ISD. There’s a wealth equalization issue for Port Arthur ISD. Choose wrong, and you may pay the price later.

Here’re some more reasons to go to the polls Tuesday:

• George P. Bush or Miguel Suazo for land commissioner.
• Sid Miller or Kim Olson for agriculture commissioner.
• Dan Patrick or Mike Collier for lieutenant governor.
• Bailey Wingate or Carolyn Guidry for county clerk.

And so forth.

Some of the ballot choices are statewide, some just for certain districts. And it’s not easy to stay on top of every race. Some include moral choices: Should Cross Coburn lose his Ward 1 seat on the Groves City Council because of an issue unrelated to his job? We said no, but the final choice is yours. Does Charlie Wiggins, who accepted the interim position as constable in Jefferson County District Precinct 1, deserve your vote, even though he reneged on his promise not to run? Up to you. Here are some more reasons to vote:

• City Council seats in Groves.
• School trustee seats in Port Neches Groves ISD.
• Judgeships, including the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, justices of the peace and the 172^nd Judicial District, Mitch Templeton or Melody Chappell.
• How about Tim Funchess or Charlie Hallmark for county treasurer?

Let’s face it: There’s a lot on the ballot. And if you haven’t paid much attention over the past 11 months, it won’t be easy to get caught up on Election Day.

Cynics might urge you not to do so. If you didn’t care enough to follow the campaigns and the issues all year, they might say, or at least post Labor Day, when political campaigns heat up, why alter an election with your uninformed vote now? Don’t vote at all, those critics might suggest, and make their own votes count for more.

Truth is, qualifications for voting are few, and adequate preparation is not one of them. There is time to catch up, at least for some races, on the issues. So get cracking.

Election Day is a day of celebration, that time when we should relish that the choices that determine much about our future as a community, as a state, as a nation, belong to us. Prepare for the party.