Voters will be heading out for the primary on March 1, unofficially known as “Super Tuesday.” Several states will be participating in this: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia.

So what is a primary?

It’s a chance for citizens to vote on who should be the nominee for each party. Some people choose to skip it because they think it’s not that important. However, if a person wants a particular candidate to be nominated, they need to vote. Every vote counts.

The Republicans had seventeen candidates running for the 2016 election, but it’s now narrowed down to five. They are Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump. For the Democrats, the two fighting for the nomination are Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

Since the numbers of who’s in the lead are so close this year, this primary in particular will be important to show who has the greatest chance of getting chosen. Often times, candidates will drop out after primaries if they are significantly behind the others.

For the Republicans, people are predicting that Trump will dominate while Carson and Kasich will receive the least number of votes. On the democratic side, it is estimated that Clinton will take the lead, although many believe Sanders will be close behind.

This year, senior Jacob Johnson will be participating for the first time. In Virginia, those who are seventeen are allowed to vote in the primary as long as they will be eighteen by the time of the general election.

“I’m pretty excited. For the first time, I get to make a choice which in a way allows me to reflect my political interest and contribute those thoughts to the country, albeit, indirectly,” said Johnson.

He decided to vote on March 1 because “it just sets the pace for the general election” and Johnson figures he might as well “be in for the long run on this deal.”

Although there will be many more primaries leading up to November, the last chance to vote in Virginia will be this March.