If you plan to vote in the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" presidential primary and haven't registered yet, you may have just a few hours left to do your civic duty.

Fortunately, Cherokee County Election Board Secretary Connie Parnell had folks like you in mind when she decided to keep the office open until 7 p.m. Friday. That gives working people a last chance to get their names on the rolls. And if you're the pessimistic sort who is tempted to ask, "Why bother?" -- well, can we have just a moment of time to answer that question?

Many Americans are convinced their votes don't count, especially since the Electoral College and the Supreme Court played such prominent roles in the 2000 presidential election. Other voters who have been keeping up with the games and strategies being employed by various states to ensure their own primaries are among the first rattles out of the box may be similarly discouraged. If a state's delegates ultimately won't count in the race to determine a party's presidential candidate, or if superdelegates hold such prominent status, what's one little vote in Cherokee County?

But as pointed out in a Daily Press article earlier this week, individual votes do count -- especially in places like Cherokee County, and especially in primaries like Super Tuesday. If you favor a candidate who doesn't seem likely to capture Oklahoma's top slot, it's not too late for you -- and admittedly, several other like-minded thinkers -- to sway the outcome.

Whom Oklahoma chooses as its pick for presidential candidates on both the Republican and Democrat tickets can, indeed, make a difference on the national scene. And certainly, how Cherokee County voters cast their ballots can affect how Oklahoma goes.

For example, although former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is polling well in many parts of Oklahoma for his religious beliefs and his take on human values, many Republicans in northeastern Oklahoma have a less-than-favorable opinion of him. As detailed in an article appearing in the Daily Press in December (and still available on our Web site), Huckabee is no friend of the Illinois River -- and, it might be argued, has been no friend to Oklahoma. At least, many local GOP voters are viewing it that way, and if they don't "get out the vote" for another candidate, Huckabee's peculiar environmental record may not amount to a hill of beans.

On the Democratic side, many Press readers who are registered Democrat have expressed a preference for John Edwards (perhaps not surprisingly, some have admitted they aren't ready to vote for a woman or a person of color). But with Edwards consistently riding drag to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, he will have little chance of faring well if those who like his ideas don't bother showing up for the primary.

If you're a local Republican and you like, say, Mitt Romney or John McCain, your candidates are teetering right on the edge of success, and need an extra boost to remain viable. Democrats who don't believe Hillary Clinton stands a chance with Republican voters might be concerned with making sure their party chooses someone who can beat the Republican candidate -- whomever he or she might be.

By the way, you still have time to read up on the candidates and their platforms before you vote. Are the candidates' religious beliefs a priority for you? Then make sure you know the truth, rather than what "a friend" sent you in a vicious e-mail. Are you a Republican who is opposed to torture? Then you don't want Rudy Giuliani, but you might want McCain. On the other hand, if the "war on terror" is your main issue, Giuliani may be your main man. Are you a Democrat who shies away from candidates who have taken money from "Big Business," particularly pharmaceutical companies? The record shows you'll prefer Edwards to Clinton. Is flip-flopping a turn-off for you? The most dramatic platform changes on the Republican go to Romney; on the Democrat side, perhaps Clinton.

But you can decide for yourself, by simply doing just a little online research. Go with credible news agencies, not the candidates' themselves or their opponents.

But before you do that, get down to the election board office and register -- if there's still time!