Citizens of Falls Church and environs may think their vote won’t matter here because we can expect a strong “Yes” vote next Tuesday on the referendum that is aimed at countering Trump’s efforts nationwide to gerrymander Congressional districts in his favor.

But every vote here matters enormously, given that the final tally will be a statewide one and there are no assurances how things may go elsewhere in the state. The unprecedented level of downright deceptive advertising by pro-Trump forces, run from outside the state by the likes of pro-Trump billionaire Peter Thiel, may wind up confusing enough voters that the overall referendum will fail. Or, at least we can be confident of the fact that the outcome will be close.

So, yes, your vote matters, a lot. In fact, this could be one of the most consequential votes of all in the national push to get rid of Trump. If it passes, it authorizes the Virginia state legislature to redraw the state’s 11 U.S. Congressional district maps in a way that will enhance chances for a Democratic majority in 10 of the districts. This would represent a gain of four Democratic congressmen in the state, a move that would offset efforts by Trumpers in Texas, North Carolina and other states to slant changes in those states to their advantage.

Please, take the trouble to vote this time! Nothing would be more apropos than for the City of Falls Church to claim its oft earned position as No. 1 in the entire state for voter turnout than this time around. It would make a powerful statement against Trump’s power grab.

The landslide election in Hungary this week to oust the Trumpian leader Viktor Orban there is a powerful signal to the entire world. The way to defeat tyranny is with a winning vote that is so overwhelming that the mere thought of overturning it is deemed futile. So it must be next week in Virginia, and across the nation this November. The spirit of this upcoming vote must carry with it the sense of what Democrats and fair-minded people generally will do faced with Trump’s treachery and tyranny. They will not deal lightly with it, and if they don’t, the Trumpians really should fear this.

Not the least of their crimes, the estimated 650,000 lives lost in just the last year and a half due to craven cuts in the budget for the Agency for International Development (AID), as documented by Nicholas Enrich in his new book, “Into the Wood Chipper.” The book title is taken from a quote by Elon Musk when he took over Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and assigned unqualified youth to take a hatchet to the US AID and other budgets.