There is an old saying that if you give someone a fish, he or she can eat for a day. But if you teach people to fish, they can feed themselves for a lifetime.

Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led thousands of marchers to Montgomery, Ala., to demand that African-Americans be given equal access to the ballot. People were beaten and some killed before passage of the federal Voting Rights Act protecting the right of all people to participate in the basic democratic process.

Medgar Evers, Viola Liuzzo, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and Dr. King gave their lives not to just give us one fish — the vote. They also were trying to teach us to fish.

On Tuesday, polls in Metro Richmond and Petersburg will open at 6 a.m. for primary elections. Candidates are running for their party’s nomination for various offices, including for the state Senate and the House of Delegates.

We urge our readers to go to the polls and support the candidate of their choice.

Voters often lament that they are faced with choosing the lesser of two evils when it comes to candidates. Primary elections curb that problem by giving us the opportunity to turn out for the person we want to see run and win the office during the future general election.

We can make our vote as effective as possible by voting for the individual and/or persons who will best represent us and our interests.

The polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday.