Election Day is over. The voters have exercised their right to vote and done their job by electing mayors, council members, aldermen and commissioners.

Granted, not many voters went to the polls, but those who did made their decisions by marking ballots. Those voters have a right to expect a return on the “investment” they made in the candidates who won their respective races. Voters who did not vote for the winning candidates also have a right to expect the winning candidates to do what’s right for them.

Now that the campaign season for municipal elections in Beaufort County’s seven municipalities is over for almost two years, it soon will be time for the winning candidates to carry through on their campaign promises. Sure, campaign promises are easy to make. Keeping those promises may not be so easy. Voters have a right to expect winning candidates to keep those promises. Voters unhappy with winning candidates who don’t keep their campaign promises can turn those elected officials into losing candidates in the next election.

It’s the voting public that has the power to reward elected officials who keep their campaign promises by returning them to office or kicking them out the next time those voters mark their ballots in municipal elections. The power of the ballot box is a strong power, one that the public must use wisely, cautiously.

This campaign season, many candidates promised that, if elected, they would work with other elected officials to improve their communities. That’s a rather broad, somewhat vague promise. But it is a promise. The winning candidates, if they have not already done so, may want to provide details concerning how they will keep that campaign promise. Perhaps when they take their oaths of office in the coming weeks, they will take time to tell the public how they will turn their campaign promises into realities. Is that food for thought, winning candidates?

As for all candidates, successful or not, the public needs to appreciate their willingness to seek public office and do the work many others turn their backs on. The candidates had the courage and conviction to ask for the responsibility of helping govern ourselves. Candidates, whether you were successful or not, accept our thanks for offering yourselves as aspirants to public service.