It's easy to come up with excuses.

"I don't know the issues."

"My vote doesn't really count."

But today, your meaningless excuses may haunt you for the next four years.

Everyone has an opinion on the war in Iraq or at least John Kerry's recent joke about it. Maybe you don't have strong beliefs on national issues like an amendment outlawing gay marriage or anti-abortion laws, but Pennsylvania's funding of higher education, Penn State's ever-increasing tuition and the job market all have a direct impact on your daily life.

On a smaller scale, your vote could mean a lot in your local school board or borough council race.

Borough council officials could affect how many dollars come out of your pocket for local taxes.

These issues aren't decided through the media, through congressional hearings or even through lobbyists, but through your vote on Election Day.

Simply put, it is our civic duty to vote.

And if you aren't educated, get educated. If you're reading this, look across the page and check out the voters' guide.

If every Penn State student at every branch registered to vote, then there would be nearly 100,000 voters stemming just from Penn State. Imagine the power that Penn State could wield if everyone voted for candidates who wanted to give the university more money to offset tuition costs.

The power of the voters is amazing. If you doubt their power, consider the pay raise Pennsylvania state legislators gave themselves last summer.

Voters hated it. They demonstrated, they wrote letters and they showed up at their lawmakers' offices.

And what happened? The pay raise was repealed.

But voters weren't done there.

Several members of the legislature fell victim to the voters' ire and lost their jobs last spring.

That's what happens when citizens go out to the polls. It's democracy in action.

A lot of people complain, but a lot of people also don't vote. If you don't vote today, then you have no right to complain about any of our elected officials. You had to forfeit that option when you didn't show up at the polls.

Today's the day. Get to the polls.