Congratulations to Marie Sobalvarro for her narrow victory this week. We thank both candidates for the respectful way they conducted their campaigns. Some of their supporters may have gone over the line with campaign tactics, but the candidates kept to the high road.

We remember a time in Harvard when current board members would not endorse a candidate, concerned that it could compromise future working relationships. But in this election some board members did choose to take sides. Much has been said about the importance of boards working as teams. Maybe it is time for a policy against sitting board members endorsing candidates.

We are disappointed that 54 percent of registered voters did not vote. Although 46 percent turnout is considered high by state primary standards, we think a local election should attract a substantial majority of registered voters. With almost three months of campaigning, incredible outreach by both candidates, multiple debates, endless waving and sign-holding, telephone trees, and street-level organization that would put some national campaigns to shame, more than half of eligible voters couldn’t be bothered. We hear about the importance of volunteerism in the life of the town. At its most basic, voting is the entry point for participation―for “volunteering”―in town affairs.

Low turnout for local elections is not new. The April 2008 town election that elected the “change” ticket (Leo Blair, Ron Ricci, Peter Warren) had only 45 percent turnout, and 86 fewer votes than in this special election. The last time a significant number of voters (76 percent) turned out to vote on a local question was the Nov. 7, 2006 state election that sent Ted Kennedy back to the senate and confirmed Harvard’s opposition (1,219 for, 1,517 against) to “scenario 2B,” which would have made Devens a town. Perhaps it was the national election that drove participation, but the special town meeting a few days before brought nearly 900 voters to the gym, to record opposition (335 for, 531 against) to the Devens question. Apparently voters will participate when the stakes are high enough.

As attention returns to the day-to-day humdrum tasks of running the town and preparing downsized budgets for next year, we hope voters will stay―or become―engaged, and prepare for the difficult choices ahead.