It’s election season — well, one of them — and time for the inevitable articles and columns to churn out the trend stories about how voters are less engaged in the process than they once were.

Voter turnout has been on the decline, that is no secret. Whether it’s people turned off by political machinations or simply youth not growing up hearing about the importance of voting, fewer people are going to the polls. It’s too bad that’s the case, as a more engaged and informed electorate would be better for our country and communities.

That’s why it was nice to see a turnout, better than I anticipated, for a candidate forum Thursday night with the Democratic candidates vying for the party’s nod for the District 50 seat. Approximately 40 people came out to hear what Jackie Sartoris and Ralph Tucker had to say about issues facing the district and the state, perhaps one final evaluation before Tuesday’s primary vote. Listening to the two candidates respond to the questions from moderator Gina Hamilton, as well as those submitted by members of the public in attendance, it was clear both feel strongly about their abilities to lead the district forward.

It was also clear that people around here are very invested in their elections.

To see as many people as there were in attendance in the Brunswick Town Council chambers made this cynical writer realize that, in some places, folks still do take their responsibility of choosing leaders seriously enough to do things like, say, come out to a candidate forum. It also was televised and I believe it will be available for viewing online — check the town of Brunswick’s website for that.

In a time when voter turnout is continuing to decline, it was quite refreshing to see so many people so engaged in the process. And the members of the public also had a wide variety of interesting questions for the candidates; Sartoris noted that there were questions that came forth at the forum that she hadn’t considered much.

Among the queries from the public: Asking them to weigh in on what programs are so important they would be worth a tax increase, what they would do to protect marine resources, their thoughts on the recent speed limit increase, how they feel about a tax on American flags, requirements for veteran grave maintenance, redevelopment efforts at Brunswick Landing, expansion of Medicaid, their feelings on virtual/charter schools and, for Sartoris specifically, about the town of Brunswick’s decision to purchase the former Times Record building.

Both candidates took the opportunity to tout their qualifications as they worked to connect with those in attendance and watching online, but the most enlightening part of the evening was getting to see how they responded to the questions — which they didn’t get beforehand — and the answers they offered up. It will be interesting to see how the primary shakes out Tuesday; due to my limited experience here so far, I can’t begin to prognosticate how it will turn out.

What I do know is that more engagement is needed, active participation in the process — like what I saw last night — of electing our representatives. It’s important, because the people we elect are going to be shaping how we live and succeed.