By Valeria Bula

Dade County’s primary elections are right around the corner and voters are getting ready to make decisions that may affect not only the community, but their country as well. On August 30, voters may opt to vote in person at the polls or cast their vote and send their ballot through mail.

Included among the choices on Monday’s ballot are the selection of partisan roles— candidates that define themselves by a single political party, such as those up for United States Senator or Representative, as well as several state legislative positions and party officers.

Non-partisan choices, those that disregard political parties and affect our community at a smaller scale, include the selection of country and circuit judges, school board members, and our county mayor.

In this election, voters must also decide whether they want to amend the Florida constitution. The amendment at hand, Amendment 4, if passed would exempt solar panels and other renewable energy equipment from real property tax.

Currently, these serve as huge barriers to expanding solar power in Florida. The passing of the amendment would expand solar development across the state which would in turn increase clean energy jobs.

As for the Miami-Dade County mayoral elections, since the position of county mayor doesn’t depend on a political party, a candidate must win 50 percent of the vote in the August 30 primaries in order to avoid a November election between the top two candidates.

That wouldn’t occur if it were a two-person race, meaning having several candidates plays a determining role in the course which the election will take— especially if more than one challenger has a high likelihood of winning as well.

The candidates in this race include: current incumbent, Carlos Gimenez, runner-up Raquel Regalado, Frederick Bryant, Farid Khavari, and new comer Alfred Santamaria among others.

When it comes to making their choices Monday, voters are weighing several problems currently occurring in south Florida and must select a candidate that can terminate these problems. The decisions voters make could be vital in regards to improving or worsening local issues.