On Tuesday, Robeson County residents who live in municipalities will head to the polls to elect the people who will decide property tax rates, how tax dollars will be spent, zoning disputes, what streets will be paved first and countless other issues that affect their everyday lives.

But elections officials predict that fewer than one out of four eligible voters will bother to take the time to cast a ballot, which shifts a lot of power to those who do meet this civic responsibility. This election is absent the national, state and countywide races that drag people to the polls in high numbers, but a strong argument can be made that the winners of those elections have less sway over our lives than do those who sit on municipal boards.

The low voter turnout is expected even with the convenience of two and a half weeks of early voting, during which about 1,000 ballots have already been cast. Early voting indicates that the most interest is in Lumberton Precinct 5, a race that as of Thursday had attracted more than half of the early ballots. The race has already generated allegations of voter fraud that will be heard by the local Elections Board on Monday.

But Precinct 5 isn’t the only City Council race of interest. All four incumbents are being contested, and the challengers include two former councilmen who want their seats back. Contrast that with Rowland, where the mayor and all the board members are running uncontested. Although we are sure the Rowland incumbents are pleased, it’s never a good thing in a democracy when voters aren’t handed a menu.

There are also spirited races for mayor in Fairmont and Red Springs, and the town boards in Pembroke, Red Springs, Maxton, St. Pauls and Fairmont. The pickin’s are pretty slim in the remaining eight municipalities, where more than half the incumbents are unopposed.

On the Sunday before municipal elections we always encourage voters to take the 15 minutes that is required to vote, reminding them that never is the old adage that every vote counts more true than when we elect mayors and town board members. While your vote will never decide who is president, it might decide who is mayor. Just two years ago a Lumberton City Council race ended in a tie before a revote was ordered.

Voting is not only a civic duty, but failing to do so is shameful, especially when American soldiers are still dying on foreign soil to preserve freedom here, which can only be assured as long people participate in the democratic process. Your role in that process is the easy one.