As of 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, Franklin’s voter registrar reported that 644 votes had been cast in the city for races in three city council districts and for the mayor’s position. With 5,680 registered voters living within the city limits, that means a whopping 12 percent of eligible voters had taken time to cast a vote.

Twelve percent.

Mind you, more votes will have been cast after this was written and before the polls closed at 7 p.m., but even with a late-day surge turnout will likely only be around 20 percent. With all that is at stake for the future of this city, that kind of turnout is disappointing to say the least. And, unfortunately, the turnout this year is representative of typical voter behavior in Franklin.

It is hard to understand why more people don’t turn out to vote in Franklin, but we assume it is a combination of voter apathy, disgust with city politics and frustration over the quality of candidates that run. Regardless the reason, it is disappointing that more Franklin residents are not invested in the future of their city.