Even though top-of-the-ticket contests dominate the headlines and turn the most heads, some of Alabama’s most competitive and, in a few cases, most impactful contests are down-ballot on Tuesday.

First, Alabamians will decide on four constitutional amendments, one of which has drawn more money during the general election than only the gubernatorial contest. Planned Parenthood and other liberal, out-of-state groups have dumped over $1.3 million in dark money into the fight against Amendment Two, signaling the importance of this pro-life versus pro-abortion battle. That they added $300,000 in a last minute addition to their advertising just days out from the election last week showed how tight the amendment’s referendum is expected to be.

Regardless of the money poured into that one contest, opponents of all of the amendments are relying on a mixture of misinformation and voter apathy. Yellowhammer News has attempted to correct the dishonesty by Alabama Media Group and other left-leaning outlets, yet the rest is up to you at the ballot box. Research the issues and contests ahead of time, and when it comes time to vote, vote all the way down to the very bottom of the back of the ballot.

Because it is not just the fate of the amendments at stake.

Second, there are important local races that could tremendously impact your respective community moving forward. Besides statehouse elections, voters will decide on crucial judgeships, from probate to circuit and district on the local level all the way to the state Supreme Court. These and other key countywide contests influence economic development and community wellbeing in locales more than most of the big-name races.

Just look at Jefferson County for an example, where one of the state’s most respected elected officials, Republican incumbent Sheriff Mike Hale, faces a challenge from a Democrat who should objectively have no chance given Hale’s bipartisan track record, experience and vision. Yet, the county has gone blindly blue for the most part, with the clear majority of voters opting for straight-ticket Democratic voting.

Which brings us to down-ballot statewide races. It is absolutely vital that conservatives and moderates do not skip lesser known non-local races when voting throughout the ballot. The biggest, and most important, example of this is found in the two respective Public Service Commission (PSC) races.

Republican Commissioner Jeremy Oden (Place 1) and Republican Commissioner Chip Beeker (Place 2) both face far-left Democratic challengers who would be a disaster for residential, industrial and commercial electricity and gas customers in the Yellowhammer State.

The two Democrats running for the PSC are aligned with out-of-state liberal organizations that have nothing to do with utilities, revealing their true political agendas. They also are backed by in-state and out-of-state leftwing environmental groups, including the ones who have poured money into Alabama in recent years trying to kill jobs in the state while backing President Barack Obama’s agenda that would have killed the coal industry and driven electricity rates up through the roof for the average person.

The Democratic duo’s agenda is so transparent and intertwined that they are even campaigning under one combined social media presence, admitting they have no unique ideas. They get their canned talking points from California, New York and Washington, D.C., the same places they get their money. Just look through their donations – MoveOn.org and “Persistence PAC” (a not-so-veiled reference to the “Resist” movement against President Donald Trump) just last month – and you can see why businesses small and large would suffer from informed Alabamians neglecting to vote in these races.

The #BlueWave is coming to Alabama! @MoveOn endorsed Kari Powell and Cara McClure are the faces of the future. #ResistandWin #DownBallotGetsItDone #PSC2018 pic.twitter.com/90uBkmOXlC

— Beth Shipp (@Elizabeth_Shipp) October 14, 2018

The “Blue Wave” is hoping that you only mark the top-of-the-ticket. To keep the state’s economic boom going, to keep utility rates down and to keep Alabama moving forward, complete both the front and back of your ballot – vote in all of the down-ballot races.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn