POLL: Will You Vote in Waltham's Election?

Has voter apathy set in? Have more people decided, “it just doesn’t matter if I vote?”

Former Boston City Council President Lawrence S. DiCara, Northeastern University instructor James Sutherland, and Samuel True Adams, service specialist at Minuteman Health, delved into Boston’s voter turnout dating back to the election of 1985 in a recent article for Commonwealth Magazine.

“There has been a decline in participation in off-year city elections, even as the population has increased and even as the number of those in Boston voting for the president has also increased slightly,” they wrote, noting that voter turnout has slipped more than six percentage points from 2003 to 2011.

According to the history of Waltham, the city has kept a steadier percentage of voter compared to other municipalities, even increasing slightly.

Here’s a breakdown of Waltham’s turnout in municipal elections:

• 2009: 7,146 of 35,316 registered voters, representing 20.23 percent
• 2011: 7,719 of 35,076 registered voters, representing 22 percent
• 2013: 7,631 of 34,039 registered voters, 22.41 percent

In a race on Nov. 2 that will decide, among others, Waltham’s next mayor, how many residents will turn out to vote? Will you?