November 2 — We wish we could assure our readers that in just three days, the election will be over—and in a sense, of course, it will be. By midnight on Tuesday night, all votes will have been cast.

However, the count will likely stretch into Wednesday, maybe Thursday. And depending on how close the results are (not just the presidency, but both the House and the Senate), the legal challenges could stretch into December.

If this possibility depresses you, then you are in good company. This election season has revealed some ugly truths about America and deepened the divide between us. If you spend a lot of time watching CNN and/or Fox News or scrolling through X or Facebook, then you might be convinced that what happens next week will decide whether our nation collapses into total ruin or soars into an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity.

Here’s a dose of reality: Neither of these scenarios will happen. If your team wins, things won’t be as unpleasant as you were promised. And if your side loses, the sun will still shine, the birds will still sing, and the price of gas won’t rise to $8 a gallon before Christmas.

America, despite what we’ve been told on both sides for the past few months, is strong. It is more powerful than the presidency, no matter who occupies the Oval Office. It is more powerful than the Supreme Court. It is more powerful than a Congress to do nothing, investigate everything.

No matter what happens on Tuesday, America will go on. Today’s 14-year-olds will get their first chance to vote in 2028. Today’s 10-year-olds will help elect a president in 2032. (They may vote using an election app on their phones, but they will vote. )

Our democracy will survive.

So whether you’ve already voted or plan to be in line on Tuesday, do yourself a favor between now and then: turn off the TV. Stop the doom-scrolling on your phone. Spend an afternoon outside. Play cards with friends — with all devices turned off. go see a movie Call a distant friend and talk about anything but politics. Take a break from the non-stop political tumult.

But then, make sure your voice is heard on Tuesday.

Minnesota has a long tradition of high voter turnout, especially in presidential election cycles. We led the nation in voter turnout in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2020 — and in 2016, Minnesota tied for first place with Maine. We see no reason why we can’t retain that title this time. Don’t trust the polls that tell you that Minnesota’s electoral votes, Senate seats, and House seats are all locked “safely” for one side or the other. If the recent election has taught us anything, it’s that polls are unreliable.

It assumes nothing. Your vote matters.

Remember that while voting is a right, it is also a privilege that we should not take for granted. Worldwide, far too many people have no voice in choosing their leaders – or their choices are a farce.

To take full advantage of this privilege, you owe it to yourself and your fellow voters to be well informed when you fill out that ballot. On Tuesday, you’ll help elect more than just a president and members of Congress. Depending on where you live, you can elect a mayor. A member of the municipal council. School board members. A county commissioner. You can vote a school tax or a local sales tax.

These local races and questions may affect your daily life far more than anyone living in the White House for the next four years, so if your only information about local races comes from the flyers you find hanging on your doorknob, we urge you to dig a little deeper. go to postbulletin.com/vote to find a voter guide to statewide races. Enter your address and you will receive detailed information about the candidates whose names you will see on the ballot paper.

In Rochester, you’ll see over 30 items on your ballot, so don’t forget to turn it in. There is a second side.

We would also ask that everyone behave themselves on Tuesday. You might be proud of the hat or t-shirt that proclaims your allegiance, but it’s illegal to wear it to a polling station. (We mean it. Look it up.) You can’t canvass or campaign for a candidate at a polling place.

Wait in line quietly. Vote yourself. Thank you to the volunteer election judges for their time. Go away.

And please, ignore pretty much anything you might hear (or have heard) about voter fraud, corrupt voting machines, “illegal” voters, and/or ballots being changed. No election is perfect, but years of analysis have found virtually no evidence of fraud in the last two presidential elections — and certainly not at any level that could have tipped the balance either way. You go to the polls on Tuesday with full confidence that the people who greet you, hand you your ballot and tabulate the results are there with one purpose and one objective: to make sure your vote is counted correctly.

Finally, we offer an important reminder; namely that we are all Americans. People who fall into the other “camp” are not your enemies. They are not bad. They are not stupid. You may disagree without hate. We can argue without rancor.

We can be gracious in victory and in defeat.