Summer isn’t over, schools don’t open for classes for another four weeks and there is more than a month left in the town’s fishing derby.

Not exactly the time most people want to focus any attention on elections, particularly with all the depressingly divisive and unproductive political campaign headlines coming out of Washington, D.C., and spilling into social media like a broken sewage line.

But a little early thinking could produce positive results.

There will be a lot of elections packed into the next few months, starting with the Aug. 18 statewide primary election, then the Oct. 6 municipal election and finally the Nov. 3 nationwide general election.

The early thinking will start next week, when the polling booths at City Hall open on Aug. 3 for voters who want to enjoy the convenience of casting their ballots early for the Aug. 18 primary election. A state official will be on hand between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays Aug. 3 through Aug. 17 so that Wrangell voters can make their choices in heavily contested primary races for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House.

The primary ballot is an easier one to complete: Voters need to pick just one candidate in each primary race. The decision for voters to rank their top four choices will come in the general election in November.

Aug. 3 also is the first day Wrangell residents can file their candidacy form with the borough clerk for the October municipal election for mayor, two assembly seats, two port commission seats and a school board seat. The filing deadline is Aug. 31.

Candidates for municipal office must be a registered voter and must have lived in town at least one year. Candidates for mayor, assembly and school board must be at least 18 years old. Port commissioners must be at least 21 years old.

An Aug. 31 candidacy filing is just as good as one filed on the first day, Aug. 3, but the sooner people start declaring for the municipal offices, the sooner others in town can decide if they are OK with the choices or maybe they want to enter the race too.

Whatever the date someone votes or files for office, voting early, as allowed under state law, and filing early for mayor, assembly, school board or port commission means people took time out of their summer to think about the issues affecting their community, the state and nation. That’s a good thought.