If you live here in Niagara-on-the-Lake and want to have a say in how it is governed over the next four years, now is your chance.

But the only way of making that opportunity count is if you take the time to learn about the candidates — and to vote.

As we’ve noted before, NOTL residents are generally more engaged in municipal politics than most other towns and cities in Ontario — and certainly more than any other Niagara municipality.

That’s good and that’s healthy.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to re-elect incumbents who have served for the past four or more years.

Or if you’re feeling dissatisfied and want wholesale change across the board.

Or if you fall somewhere in between.

You have to make the effort to exercise your franchise and cast a ballot.

In NOTL, unlike many other areas across the province, the town staff (and by extension, the outgoing council) have made voting easier than it has ever been.

Besides the old-fashioned “mark your X on a paper ballot” method, in this year’s election for the first time residents can vote online.

It’s a process that literally takes minutes and it likely will make tabulating the results faster and easier.

According to the Town of NOTL, there are 17,503 eligible electors in our fair town and as of this week more than 3,600 people, almost one-quarter of those eligible, have already made their choices.

That number represents about half of the 7,644 who voted in 2022 when about 48 per cent of the electorate turned out.

Given that voting day tends to have the heaviest outpouring of voters, there’s a good chance the turnout in 2026 will exceed that of four years ago.

Let’s hope so. Democracy wins when people vote.

Meanwhile, this has been another interesting election campaign, which, in the age of social media and instant communication, has allowed people to express their preferences loudly and often.

If you’re a bystander watching the rhetorical conversations play out online, one of the major takeaways has been the proliferation of often-vitriolic commentary directed at candidates and their supporters.

To be clear, not everyone is guilty of such behaviour but it is happening everywhere, not just in NOTL. All that said, there remains plenty of measured and mature back and forth.

But the sheer volume of nasty negativity online stands out and tends to poison the entire public forum.

In NOTL and elsewhere, it’s been most visible via Facebook groups where some people comment legitimately under their own names while many others often hide behind pseudonyms.

The end result often is that the anonymous outliers have upped the ante and turned political debate on its proverbial head.

The age of polite interaction seems to have passed.

It’s sad to see and we won’t be surprised if this editorial attracts attacks from some of those naysayers who view online forums as a free-for-all space where anything goes.

That’s their prerogative. But it is regrettable to see grown adults stooping to such lows over decisions made (or not made) by incumbents, or promises offered up by those seeking to replace them, or people questioning motivations and throwing stones with little or no evidence.

The personal attacks are disconcerting. Just because the online sphere is rife with misinformation, half-truths, rumours and speculation doesn’t mean we need to play that game.

While Canada’s right to free expression allows such vigorous debate, we often wish people would pause and rethink their musings before they post publicly.

Ask yourself if what you’re doing best serves the community or simply lets you vent and unleash vitriol — because you can.

If we want to attract good and capable people to serve in municipal politics (where they certainly are not in it for the money), then let’s curb the maliciousness and embrace a culture that encourages measured and mature debate.

Use your vote — and your voice — at the local level to build up rather than tear down the community our predecessors established.