Election day, Nov. 2, is upon us, so fill out your ballot if you haven’t already done so.

The top of the ballot, as usual, is stacked with misleading and meaningless advisory vote measures. For some, these measures remain the most confusing part of the process, no matter how many times we’ve all had to go through it before.

So we’ll say it again: advisory votes measures are the handiwork of the anti-government gadfly Tim Eyman, and “repeal” votes on taxation measures already passed by the legislature are nonbinding and will not change the laws. However, your vote to “maintain” on all these measures will surely hearten the legislators who are working to repeal the thing that really needs repealing — ​​Eyman’s I-960, passed in 2007, which established these costly additions to our ballots.

Okay, whew, we made it past the top of the ballot. Now come the county races.

We expect that the island will once again step up to support Dow Constantine for his fourth term as King County Executive, as happened in the Aug. 3 primary, when islanders gave Constantine a 37% margin of victory over his closest opponent, our own State Senator Joe Nguyen.

We’re not quite sure why the margin was so wide — countywide, it was only 19%. And Nguyen is a young and talented challenger who has said he will govern with a “fierce sense of urgency” to achieve social justice goals that have taken Constantine far too long to achieve.

But this doesn’t seem to be Nguyen’s year, with everyone from Jay Inslee to Maria Cantwell to even Nguyen’s own colleagues in the 34th, Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon, lining up to endorse the status quo.

This outcome seems a foregone conclusion, but we wish Nguyen the best in future contests. We need voices like his, and robust challenges to deeply entrenched and established politicians like Constantine.

​​Now, on to the Port of Seattle races. We urge islanders to learn more about the platforms of Ryan Calkins, Hamdi Mohamed and Toshiko Grace Hasegawa. Calkins is an able incumbent, and Mohamed and Haseegawa would bring fresh energy and deep commitment to diverse communities to their work.

Flip the ballot over to its second page, and you’ll come to local elections, which sadly this year have a dearth of candidates.

Only three local races on the ballot show contested races, but islanders should know that in two of those races, one of the candidates has dropped out.

In the race for School Board Position 4, only Allison Krutsinger is still running. She is well qualified for the position, and we’re excited to see what she brings to her work on the school board.

In the race for Vashon Island Fire and Rescue Commissioner 5, only John Simonds remains in the race, despite the fact that Ron Smothermon, who has dropped out of the race, is still on the ballot. Pam King, a relative newcomer to Vashon, is the only candidate for Commission Position 3.

Simonds has, in recent years, been a vocal critic of many decisions made by the current VIFR administration and board. We hope, as a commissioner, he will be able to thread the needle of governance and activism in his work with the other commissioners.

This brings us to the last race on the ballot: the only contested one, for Parks commissioner position 4, between Steven Brewer and Keith Prior. For a refresher on both candidates’ qualifications and experience, see our recent coverage at tinyurl.com/festnpz5, and make your choice.

Next time around, we hope to see more islanders step up as candidates. There are so many talented and accomplished citizens on Vashon, and they are sorely needed to serve in these offices.