When it comes to tomorrow's general election, will you be in the game or on the sidelines? If you're on the sidelines, you can't make an impact.

Traditionally, these off-year elections draw a weak turnout. In the Carbon County primaries earlier this year, for example, just about one in four registered Democrats and Republicans bothered to vote. Put another way, three of four stayed home.Tomorrow, there will be an unprecedented three state Supreme Court seats that will be decided. With one recent resignation for election laws violations, one retirement of a justice implicated in the pornographic email turmoil and another having apologized for receiving and sending unsavory emails, finding competent and ethical jurists becomes ever more critical to overcome the taint of scandal on our highest court. There also are single seats open for the lower appellate Commonwealth and Superior courts, including one local candidate - Emil Giordano of Northampton County, a Superior Court candidate.But for voters in Carbon, Schuylkill, Northampton, Monroe and Lehigh counties, their focus will be on county and local contests that will shape how major projects in these communities unfold over the next four years. There are lively commissioner races in Carbon, Schuylkill, Monroe and Lehigh counties, and there are key contests for other countywide offices, such as district attorney, sheriff and coroner.Sometimes lost in the shuffle are municipal and school board races. This is the level of government closest to the people, and, regrettably, most ignored. Every school district has multiple seats to be filled; every township has a supervisor seat and every borough has council and mayoral seats in play.Granted, not every municipality and school district has a contest. Many candidates are unopposed or picked up both parties' nominations in the primaries to be on both ballots and virtually assure themselves of election tomorrow.There will be council races in Lansford, Summit Hill and Slatington, a mayor's contest in Weatherly and supervisor races in East Penn, Lower Towamensing, Mahoning and Penn Forest townships. There also will be contests for school board seats in the Lehighton, Panther Valley, Weatherly and Hazelton districts.Those elected will be asked to grapple with some key decisions. For example:• The Lehighton School Board is facing a $34.5 million elementary school project, while the Palmerton School Board aims to make $21 million in renovations.• Slatington has an aging sewer plant that needs immediate attention which will cost a lot of money. The borough also has upcoming police contract negotiations that will need deft handling and a willingness by both sides to compromise.• Mahoning Township is dealing with the Kia project and the construction of a PennDOT building and it, too, has upcoming police contract negotiations. Mahoning and East Penn townships and Parryville borough are three of seven municipalities trying to hammer out a deal for the D&L Trail connection/pedestrian bridge project.• Eldred Township in Monroe County is facing a major water-extraction issue in conjunction with the construction of a Nestle's bottled water plant. Can local officials stand up to a corporate behemoth with deep pockets? This issue has resulted in a hotly contested township supervisor race.• Carbon County is looking at several major projects, including the $10 million to $12 million multiuse fire-training center.• Schuylkill County has a major prison overcrowding problem that will be expensive to fix. The county also is contemplating building a pre-release center.Your vote sends a message, because elected officials pay attention to voter turnout. If the electorate is passive and disinterested, and turnout is low, officials assume residents don't care about issues - even important ones - so they are more inclined to do whatever they want. When turnout is high, officials tend to be more accountable to those whose interests they have been elected to represent.Then, of course, there are the simple, practical reasons - it's your civic duty, and it will make you feel as if you were a key player in the game and not on the sidelines. You work hard for your money; don't you think you should have a say in how it is spent?The polls are open for 13 hours Tuesday - 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Surely, there is a 10-minute window you can spare to send a message that you care enough to do your civic duty and vote. Remember, there have been scores of instances where an important election has been won by one or a handful of votes.BRUCE FRASSINELLI |

tneditor@tnonline.com