Vicksburg native and Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is predicting a low voter turnout in Mississippi for the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Let us prove him wrong.

While this election season has been particularly hard to take, we are still Americans and staying home just isn’t an option — or it shouldn’t be.

Warren County is already off to a good start with voting. Warren County Circuit Clerk Jan Daigre said absentee voting has been “very, very busy … bigger than the last presidential election.”

Hosemann said the rest of the state isn’t following suit and that absentee voting is down statewide, disappointingly so. Based on the number of people who have requested absentee ballots statewide thus far, Hosemann is predicting less than half of Mississippi’s eligible voters will participate in this year’s election.

That’s just sad.

For those of us who take voting seriously, it is difficult to image why someone wouldn’t cast a ballot.

Maybe some think their vote doesn’t matter. Time and time again, that has been proven wrong. Just ask former Vice President Al Gore. Just a few more votes in Florida and Gore would have been president.

Maybe people don’t like this year’s choices. If that is what you think, you are in good company.

But voting is such a privilege. Go to the polls and cast your ballot for someone. If you can’t stomach voting for either of the main party candidates, write someone in — yourself or your mother or your dad or you best friend.

Just vote.

Maybe you think this election is “rigged,” like both the major party candidates claim. What better way for you to prove their claims wrong, then by casting a vote and helping America decide who is our next president.

Many in other countries wish they had the opportunity to freely cast a ballot, like we do as Americans. Remember to vote next Tuesday and participate in the process that sets our nation apart from so many others.