It doesn’t happen often, but there is an important election in August this year, next Tuesday, Aug. 23.

All voters are eligible to vote in the Special Election to elect a person to finish Tom Reed’s vacated term as Congressman. And, for Republican voters, on the same day, a primary election will be held to determine who will be their candidate for Congress in November.

For Democrats the storyline is fairly simple. Their candidate, Max Della Pia, is running to replace Reed and also running for Congress in November. The Republican story is more complicated. They are running a former Reed staffer as a “place holder” candidate who wants to finish Reed’s term but who has also agreed not to run in the general election in November. He was, more or less, shut out of the November election by the big money and Erie County connections of Carl Paladino and Nick Langworthy.

The reason that there is an election in mid-summer has been driven primarily by a redistricting lawsuit brought in Bath, N.Y. (Steuben County) where the court threw out as being illegally “gerrymandered” the Congressional and state Senate Districts that had been drawn and approved by the New York State Legislature.

The new court-mandated district lines were not in place until early summer — thus requiring a relatively late primary date. It was decided to consolidate the “Tom Reed” replacement special election and have it on the same day. Thus, Republicans going to the polls here will be given two ballots — one for the Primary and one for the Special Election. Independents, Democrats and all other voters will only be voting in the Special Election as to who will fill the Tom Reed vacancy in the Congress.

Special elections are notoriously known for being low-turnout affairs. This one will likely be no exception. After all, who wants to go vote right during the heart of the summer? It is a time to play and vacation.

Yet, this is a very important election, and it is significant that both of our local newspapers in Dunkirk and Jamestown have endorsed Max Della Pia in the special election. They see him as the candidate “closest to the center,” and “a closer fit to Reed and Houghton” (and I would add Stan Lundine) who have represented the district before. In making the endorsements, the editors quoted Della Pia’s statement that: “We need to start talking with one another, instead of poking each other in the eye.”

There are a couple of sub-plots also at play this year. Della Pia is from the Southern Tier and both Paladino and Langworthy are from Erie County. Will that make a difference to voters come November? Will the fact that the Republican Party has chosen to run a placeholder candidate in the Special Election be an issue for the electorate, i.e. will people be willing to vote for someone next week who has already announced that we will only represent them for four months?

Another big question is what will Republicans who are willing to “split their ticket” and independent voters do? If they turn out to vote, that could influence the outcome of the Special Election. Della Pia is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and a retired Air Force colonel — he is the type of candidate that should appeal to them.

All of this is to say, you had better get to the polls on Tuesday. It is your civic duty!

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.