It’s heartening to see the number of people who have stepped up to run for a local office that is up for election in the April 9 consolidated municipal elections.

There are at least 18 contested races on the ballot in DeKalb County. It’s likely that wherever you live in the county, there will be a race or an issue that needs to be decided on election day.

Consolidated municipal elections typically don’t draw huge crowds. In the April 2009 election, when the same offices were up, not even 22 percent of DeKalb County’s registered voters cast a ballot. In the last consolidated municipal election in April 2011, voter turnout was dismal, with just 11.53 percent of registered voters visiting the ballot box.