Make sure you vote in the April 4 Municipal Elections--the people elected for local offices will have an outsized impact on our daily lives. School board races are especially crucial: there are people on the ballot in both Palatine District 15 and High School District 211 who want to ban books and deny the dignity of our diverse school districts. Turnout is very, very low in these spring municipal races, so a minority of people can sway an election. For instance, in Township High School District 211, there are twelve people listed on the ballot for four seats on the 7-person board. (Two people have withdrawn, but because they missed the deadline for withdrawing, their names will still be on the ballot, pulling votes.)The people who want to ban books have their four candidates, and they will unite around those four. But there is a very high risk that the rest of us voters will scatter our votes around the remaining eight candidates, diluting our vote and allowing the book-banners to win the election and control the school board for the next four years. If we don't want to turn District 211 into a mini-Florida, voters need to unite around the same four candidates. Do your research!