Even generally apathetic voters are being caught up in the presidential election this year. Televised debates are breaking viewership records, and every day the four candidates seem to soak up more and more space in newspapers and on the airwaves, commenting on issues large and small.

As voters, we know every time Obama buys his wife flowers or Palin winks into a camera. But we shouldn’t let this inundation of presidential election coverage blind us to our obligation to make a truly informed choice on the national and local levels this Nov. 4.

On the national level, make sure you know where the candidates stand on current, relevant policy issues. Also make sure you understand how their top priorities and objectives differ. The candidates’ own Web sites, as well as objective media sites, are a good source of this kind of information. Voters can also have fun while learning something about the candidates — and themselves — by visiting multiple-choice quiz sites such as SelectSmart.com’s Presidential Candidate Selector and USA Today’s Candidate Match Game II, which aim to match you to the candidate whose positions most clearly align with your own.

Getting good comparison data on the local level is more difficult, though not as daunting as it may seem. Start by knowing which races you’ll actually be voting in. With no municipal seats being contested and only one County Commission seat up for grabs, the main local contests will be for state legislative offices. Those races get narrowed down even further by the way Tooele County’s legislative districts have been sliced and diced in recent years, with two House and four Senate seats lying partially within the county.

On the legislative level, most incumbents as well as challengers have Web sites outlining their positions. Watch this newspaper, too, for information on candidates’ platforms. Voters can also take advantage of Meet the Candidates events, of which there will be two this week: the Tooele County Chamber of Commerce’s on Wednesday at noon at Tracks Brewing Company, and the Tooele County Board of Realtors’ on Thursday at noon at Tooele City Hall. Although these forums don’t often produce debate between candidates, they do offer each candidate an opportunity to put forth their top priorities — a format that allows voters to do their own comparing and contrasting.

Finally, an excellent way to compare candidates on the issues is to simply ask them directly. Rare is the candidate for a local office who can afford to ignore a voter who calls them or sends them an e-mail this time of year.

With little more than four weeks remaining before Election Day, we need to begin the process of vetting candidates on the issues in earnest. Waiting until the last minute to do this only increases the chances we will end up making an ill-informed choice at the polls.