By the time this paper arrives on your doorstep there will be less than 12 hours to cast your vote. We live in a “red” state, in which the Republican Party will carry the vote.

With CNN and Fox News gabbing about the swing states, it may feel like your vote does not even matter at all. You may feel that a vote for President Barack Obama is going to be silenced by the votes for Gov. Mitt Romney or you may feel that voting for Romney in this state is useless, because projections show the state already favors him.

But in Dallas County every last vote will count because our votes truly matter for other issues apart from the national election. On the ballot, Dallas County voters will find statewide amendments, Dallas County commission races, Congressional representatives and a referendum on Sunday alcohol sales.

Though candidates like U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell are heavily favored — and expected — to win re-election, it is vital we vote in this race that is likely to direclty impact our day-to-day lives. Block-by-block and dollar-by-dollar we see the work and lobbying here at home from what our representatives do for us in Washington.

In the 2008 election, 20,000 Dallas County residents proved to our nation that what the foot soldiers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge fought for was worth it. More than 20,000 residents cast a vote in the presidential race and those 20,000 people followed through with their duty.

Let’s do it again, but this time we need 100 percent — or at least 80 percent — of registered voters to cast a ballot.

There are those who would say — and we would agree — that in the end, it not as important of who you vote for, but rather you cast your vote.

This is America and that is just what we do. We vote to have a say in who our leaders are. We vote to have a say in what America can become.