Your Vote Is Sacred. Make It An Informed One.

My Ukrainian-American family knows what it means to live without freedom.

They fled a communist regime and endured hell during and after World War II to reach the greatest nation on earth: the United States of America.

My paternal grandparents, uncle, and biological father came to a country built upon rights that millions around the world, including them, have been denied, including the sacred right to choose who governs us.

We must never, ever take that right for granted. It is a sacred honor that can never be taken for granted.

That is why The South Shore Press takes our responsibility during election season so seriously.

Our editorial team has interviewed candidates seeking state and federal office, asking them about the issues that matter to Long Islanders and giving them an opportunity to explain their records, priorities and visions for the future.

Between now and Election Day, we will publish candidate profiles at SouthShorePress.com and share video clips from those interviews across our social media platforms. Twitter is @SSPNewsroom and Facebook is @TheSouthShorePress.

Why? Because democracy demands an informed electorate. Political campaigns bombard you and your family with television commercials, mailers, social media posts, slogans and attacks. Our job is different. Our responsibility as journalists in the fourth branch of government is to inform, enlighten and educate.

We want you to hear directly from the candidates asking for your vote. We want you to understand where they stand. We want you to have as much information as possible before entering the voting booth. That's why in edition to web stories that will appear on SouthShorePress.com, we will share video clips on our social media platforms so you hear directly from candidates themselves.

Then the decision at the voting booth belongs to you. Read their profiles. Watch their interviews. Examine their records. Compare their positions. Challenge assumptions. Cant your ballot as an informed, educated voter, and decide for yourself. That distinction matters. A news outlet like ours can provide information, but it should never substitute its judgment for the judgment of its readers.

The ballot belongs to you. My family came to America understanding how precious that ballot is because they knew a world where fundamental freedoms could disappear beneath the boot of tyranny. Generations of Americans have fought, sacrificed and died protecting the freedoms we enjoy today, like the freedom to vote in an election.

Voting is more than filling in a circle on a ballot. It is an extraordinary exercise of individual liberty. The South Shore Press will do everything we can between now and Election Day to help you make an informed decision.

The rest is up to you. Get informed. Make your decision. And vote like our democracy depends on it. Because it does.