You could be forgiven for not greeting the latest infestation of election lawn signs with anything approaching enthusiasm. It’s been a marathon stretch at the polls, after all, with municipal, federal and now provincial votes all squeezed into just under a year.

The provincial campaign only began officially last week, but we’ve seen already several months of partisan squabbling, with local designated hitters like Liberal Bob Chiarelli and PC Lisa MacLeod trading barbs tirelessly. MacLeod also managed to get kicked out of the legislature for calling Finance Minister Dwight Duncan a liar.

Some local battles, like those for Ottawa-West Nepean, where Chiarelli squares off against Tory Randall Denley, the ex-Ottawa Citizen columnist, and Ottawa Centre, where Liberal party president Yasir Naqvi faces a challenge from the NDP’s Anil Naidoo, could be some of the closest and hardest-fought of the campaign.

It’s not all non-stop thrills. In Ottawa-Vanier, which has consistently voted Liberal since approximately the Bronze Age, some voters may wonder why they bother. Still, PC candidate Fred Sherman’s campaign workers have plastered the riding with signs and were out door-knocking weeks ago.  

Will the voters show up? Recent history suggests, well, sort of.

In last fall’s municipal election, voter turnout, after setting a record high (yes, high) of 54 per cent in 2007, sank to an unimpressive 44 per cent. This spring’s federal campaign drew a less-depressing 61 per cent turnout this spring, a mild improvement on 2008, which saw 58.8 per cent of us, a historic low, bothering to cast a ballot.

Provincial voter turnout last time around was 52 per cent, a record year for electoral indifference in Ontario. Elections Ontario has tried to make it as easy as possible to vote, allowing voting throughout the campaign instead of just Election Day, and providing new assistive technology for the disabled, but only you can ultimately decide if it’s worthwhile.

If you care about what happens in your city, then it certainly matters who’s representing you at Queen’s Park. As local candidates weigh in on everything from light rail to the question of whether the Ontario Municipal Board, which regularly overturns city council decisions, needs reform (or abolition), it becomes clear that not much can be done here without co-operation from Toronto.

So try your best to follow one more campaign, cast the best vote you can, and then enjoy a break from electioneering politicians at your door until 2014.