Whether in a presidential election or a race for municipal council in a small town, individual votes matter. They can be decisive.

The Nov. 8 general election provided at least two more instances to remind us all of that fact.

In Trumbull County, a charter amendment appearing on the Newton Falls Village ballot passed by just two votes out of the 1,342 who cast ballots on that issue.

In Mahoning County, the commissioners race between longtime Democratic incumbent Carol Rimedio-Righetti and her Republican challenger Geno DiFabio still remains unsettled because Rimedio-Righetti’s lead is just 137 votes.

The outcome certified Monday by the board has Rimedio-Righetti beating DiFabio 42,569 to 42,432. The 137 votes create a victory margin of just 0.16 of a percent.

The state requires automatic recounts if a margin of victory is within 0.5 of a percent.

The recount is scheduled for Wednesday, beginning around 9 a.m. The board is expected to meet between 3 and 4 p.m. that day to vote on the outcome.

David Betras, Mahoning County elections board chairman, marveled at the closeness of the commissioner’s race in a story reported last week by politics writer David Skolnick.

“When people say their vote doesn’t matter, you can tell them that 137 votes matter,” Betras said. “One vote does matter.”

On the surface, 137 votes might sound like a lot, but consider this. If just one additional voter in each of Mahoning County’s 212 precincts had turned out for the election, the results might have been different. Or, to consider it another way, if just 69 voters, or half of the 137 votes separating the candidates, out of 85,003 ballots properly cast in this highly competitive race, had swung the other way, the outcome also might be different.

In an unrelated race in Trumbull County, a Newton Falls charter amendment is winning by an even slimmer margin — just two votes, 672 to 670. That margin of victory is 0.14 of a percent.

The charter amendment is subject to an automatic vote recount, which has been scheduled for Tuesday.

If it passes, the charter amendment will make changes to recall election procedures by requiring a 90-day time limit for getting the required number of signatures on a petition from the original filing date and having the recall placed on the soonest primary or general election for which the recall can be scheduled.

Overall, seven charter amendments were on the ballot in Newton Falls. Four of them, including the one in question, passed.

Last year, when the results of political races remained extremely close, local election officials and Ohio’s secretary of state used the examples to remind us how important it really is to go vote.

“It should show people, for sure, that every vote counts,” Stephanie Penrose, director of the Trumbull County Board of Elections, said after another close race in 2021.

Indeed, it does.

Often, we hear residents bemoan that their votes just don’t matter. Many don’t bother to turn out on Election Day.

This year, we also see an example of a troubling phenomenon involving early voting ballots.

In Mahoning County, 1,605 absentee ballots had been requested by voters; however, only 102 of those were included in the official count of the Mahoning County commissioner’s race, according to Tom McCabe, Mahoning County board of elections director.

In other words, an overwhelming majority never sent the ballot back to the board. Also, 142 of those arrived at the board after the Nov. 18 deadline, he said. The ballots had to be postmarked by Nov. 7, the day before Election Day, and arrive at the board no later than Nov. 18.

We are very disappointed to see so many voters take such a lackadaisical attitude toward their very important civic duty.

With opportunities to vote early, typically for about a month before Election Day, and even to cast ballots by mail in Ohio, there really is no excuse not to become informed and vote your conscience.

At the end of the day, your vote is important in every election. But in some situations, it can be the difference between whether a candidate you support wins or loses, or whether a tax you oppose is approved or rejected.

Remember that, we urge you, the next time an election is scheduled.

editorial@vindy.com