By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Somerville voters have often turned out in higher numbers than the percentage of voters in other towns. And I hope that two weeks from now, we’ll see that same sense of civic duty continue that trend at the polls for our state election. But in September, Somerville had about an 18 percent turnout of registered voters for the state primary. That low number was unfortunately in line with turnout across Massachusetts for the primary despite several contested races—some without incumbents, such as the race for governor.

I think the state can do better than that and I know Somerville can. But I’m also aware that voting requires more than just showing up one day and casting a ballot. Truly educating yourself about an election is hard and sometimes, frankly, tedious work. Candidates’ stances on many issues need to be reviewed—making our schools better, making our streets safer, and repairing our roads and bridges are among the many challenges that elected leaders must both address immediately and plan around for the future so that our state does not fall behind. The ballot questions take time to consider too: Should our gas tax go up and down based on the consumer price index? Should the bottle bill be expanded? Will we allow casinos in Massachusetts? Should workers have earned sick time? Arguments for and against each of these ballot questions exist—I’ve made some of them myself—and it takes time to learn the facts.

But most of us have to balance the time it takes to become an informed voter with many other demands on our time. Many of us work long hours and already feel short-changed on the time we have left to spend with our families or friends, or taking care of the needs of our daily lives—and enjoying them. The parents among us want to spend the little downtime that we have with our children—helping them with their homework, taking them to the park, or simply feeding them and asking how their day was. With our daily demands, finding time to adequately educate ourselves can be a struggle.

But if we don’t take the time to educate ourselves and cast an informed vote each Election Day, we miss the opportunity to directly affect the world we live in and that will await our children in their adult lives. We could impact the amount of money available to spend on parks near our homes where our children play, sustainable transit, or job creation. Or we could suffer the cumulative effect of non-voting.

Voters are disproportionately from higher-income households, and are older and more partisan, as pointed out by the non-partisan organization MassVOTE. Ultimately, that participation gap means that critical votes about who has political power and how that power is wielded are not representative of the people as a whole. When we don’t vote, it’s more than us not having our own voice heard. It weakens the voice of others who share our concerns. This problem may seem obvious, but given how voter turnout can fluctuate so much and come in so low, it bears repeating. When we don’t vote, we’re not just silencing ourselves—we’re muffling others who would stand up for our beliefs and for us.

How can we improve voter turnout? We’re looking into ways that we might be able to improve elections here in Somerville and ways to make it easier to register to vote and cast your ballot. But perhaps the most important thing we can do is set an example for our families and our friends. Encouraging other people to vote doesn’t have to be a political argument, imploring someone to vote one way or the other, or admonishing people for not voting. We can set an example simply by taking the time to read good coverage of an upcoming election, learning about the candidates’ stances and ballot questions, and letting other people know what’s on the ballot. We can share news articles or useful websites, and information how to register or find a polling place.

We need to empower one another so that every person understands that their vote is important—not just to themselves, but to their community. I hope you will take the time to learn about this year’s election, and I will see you on Nov. 4 at the polls.