This week, registered voters on Vashon should see their ballots arrive in the mail.

And as is often the case, the ballot is full of weighty questions and matters of import, issues some of us no doubt care mightily about.

As Ellen Kritzman notes on the following page, we get to decide our stance on domestic partnerships (both gay couples and heterosexual senior couples) — and the extent of the rights our state confers upon them.

As John “Oz” Osborne notes on this page, we face a school levy that will help to determine both the technological future of our three public schools as well as the degree to which the district can maintain them.

There’s another Tim Eyman-inspired tax-slashing (read government-eviscerating) initiative, coming even as state and county governments struggle to provide basic services.

And there’s a decision that’s huge for those of us who live in unincorporated King County: Should Dow Constantine or Susan Hutchison become our next county executive? The two are as different as night and day. As Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes wrote in a story earlier this week, on environmental matters alone they stand miles apart — particularly on one of the most contentious issues on Vashon: She supports the expansion of Glacier Northwest’s gravel mine on Maury Island; he opposes it.

There are also four contested races for boards or commissions on Vashon: Steve Ellison and Jake Jacobovitch are vying for the seat Osborne holds (he’s stepping down); Marty Liebowitz and Bob Powell are jockeying for a spot on Water District 19’s commission (Frank Jackson is stepping down), and two seats on the board that governs Vashon’s small municipal airport are contested: Incumbent Al Paxhia faces challenger George Kirkish, and challenger Ron Mitchell is trying to unseat incumbent Phillip McClure.

Several other Vashon positions will be on the ballot, but with only one candidate.

For those who would like to know more, a candidates forum at 7 p.m. tonight might help: All of those who face contested races have been invited to speak; there will also be presentations about both the school levy and a proposed Vashon Park District levy.

It’s a wonderful rite that unfolds nearly every year — and often in the fall, when the air is crisp, the maples are robed in yellows and golds and political placards start popping up like mushrooms. We urge Islanders to take each of these races and propositions seriously, to be thoughtful, to read your voters pamphlet and to come to the candidates’ forum.

We’re lucky to have such choices.