A few weeks ago, as voter registration was winding down, Kellie Hopkins, director of the Beaufort County Board of Elections, said the most activity she saw during registration period was voters changing their party affiliation.

A decade or three ago, that would have meant Democratic voters were switching their affiliations and going to the Republican side, as more and more North Carolinians, and residents of Beaufort County, could more readily identify with a more conservative politicians.

That’s not the case now. Rather, the most action at our local Board of Elections was in voters changing their registration to unaffiliated — unaffiliated with any particular party, so they have the opportunity to vote where for whomever they like.

A few local candidates have mentioned with regard to several races, that they hear lifelong Republicans say they will be voting for a Democrat, and lifelong Democrats say they will be voting for a Republican. Some take that to mean that we are fed up with party divisiveness, that the parties are so polarized — even factions within parties — that people are being driven away into the no man’s land of unaffiliated voters.

That’s not a bad thing, overall. But by pulling away from a certain political party’s overall ideology and not voting a straight party ticket, voters need to know exactly who they are voting for.

Over the last several months, the Democratic party, the Republican party, the Conservative Republicans, the Patriot Tea Party and North Carolina Association of Educators have hosted a series of forums in which candidates were invited to introduce themselves to the public. At many, they public was allowed to ask questions. At every single one of those events, whether a Democrat, a Republican, a reformed version of either one of those, or an unaffiliated voter, each person who attended walked out with a better of idea of not necessarily who they were voting for, but who the candidates are.

A sign on a corner with a name and a nice design is not an accurate way to get know your candidates. A poster or a website with a list of accomplishments and promises is only slightly better.

But meeting your candidates? Seeing them interact with others? Watching them process a relevant question and provide a logical, equally relevant answer — or not — is the only way to truly understand who it is you may be voting for.

Get to know your candidates. The people we vote for, especially in local races, will make decisions that will affect us directly.

In the coming months there will be ample opportunity to attend more forums — so go. Make sure you know who it is you are trusting with your vote