Get educated and then vote!

If you didn’t already cast your vote during the two weeks of early voting that concluded Friday in Clark County, Tuesday is your last chance to participate in the primary election. So, get out there and vote! But before that, do your homework on the candidates so the vote you’re casting will be an informed one. There’s not much worse than guessing, voting in ignorance, or making a judgment call based on last-minute hunches in the voting booth rather than on the issues.

Ignorance is no excuse, either, especially when there are so many places to find information about the races, the candidates and the issues.

For example, the Review-Journal has once again put together its comprehensive voter guide, a 48page tabloid in which our reporters have gathered information on every race from U.S. Senate to House, to the Nevada Legislature, to various education posts to judicial races.

And online, there’s even more: You can find a short biography of each candidate, as well as hear from each one who elected to participate via a short video. You can find all that info here: www.reviewjournal.com/voterguide2016.

Over at 8NewsNow, my “PoliticsNOW” co-host Patrick Walker, producer Ian Russell and I have worked to ensure voters have plenty of information in some of the key primary races, including Congressional District 3, Congressional District 4 and even state Senate District 6. You can find full, unedited interviews with top candidates in those races on the station’s website, at www.lasvegasnow.com/news/politics. (To my delight, every candidate we asked to appear on the show did, with the notable exception of Assemblyman Erv Nelson, who’s running for state Senate District 6 against Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman.)

And we’re not the only people on TV busy covering political races. My colleague Jon Ralston has conducted interviews and even a primary debate for the top three Democratic Congressional District 4 candidates on his daily show, “Ralston Live,” which airs on VegasPBS. You can find old episodes of the show here: www. vegaspbs.org/ralston-live.

Wondering about some of those political ads that have been running on TV recently? The website PolitiFact’s man in Nevada, Riley Snyder, has been fact checking and applying the now-famous truth-test ratings, which are available on the PolitiFact Nevada website here: www.politifact.com/ nevada. And you can catch Snyder’s reports on politics at KTNV Channel 13.

And let’s not forget KSNV Channel 3’s Jeff Gillan, who’s been covering the primary election in-depth and who brings some extensive Nevada experience to the beat.

Most candidates field websites of their own, with gauzy family photos and endorsements from various groups. While the claims made on those sites should certainly be vetted, most of the candidates will at least tell you where they stand on the issues and how they intend to vote if elected.

Speaking of endorsements, if you find yourself in philosophical agreement with a union, an issue advocacy group or a political organization, you might check their website to find out if they’ve endorsed candidates to get an idea about which of them might be a good philosophical fit.

The point? There are plenty of places to get information about the races, the issues and the candidates for anybody who wants it.

So, my advice is: get educated, get out on Tuesday and vote, because the only truly wasted vote is one left uncast when the polls close.

Special note: I’ll be a part of 8NewsNow’s coverage of the primary, starting at 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Please tune in for live election returns, interviews and analysis.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and co-host of “PoliticsNOW,” airing at 5:30 p.m. Sundays on 8NewsNow. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.

Steve Sebelius