What can you do? Educate yourself on candidates, plan to vote in the August primaries and bring along your friends. Both the Republican and Democratic parties now have closed primaries. If you are registered as a Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian and you want to change your party affiliation to vote in the primary, you must do so by July 1 because of legislation passed during the session. If you are unaffiliated, you can still walk into the polls on voting day (or fill out an advance ballot) and affiliate with a party at that time. Primary elections are very important, but attendance has traditionally been very low. This year, voters who care about public education need to vote on August 5 (or plan to vote in advance-especially those families who are going to be on vacation that day). Make your voices heard in August!