Vote; and appreciate those who guide us through the process

Until last year, for every election cycle in the life of this newspaper, there has by now been an endorsement editorial in this space. We have always welcomed the letters to the editor relating to election preferences, and this year those continue unrestricted. But as for the newspaper’s endorsements, those have come to an end due to the nonprofit status granted to us in 2021.

It’s not as if we’ve ignored our political candidates. That we would never want to do. They are far too important to our lives as humans, Americans and citizens. We have published profiles and interviews with various candidates, and then trust our readers to make their own informed decisions on the best people for the jobs up for grabs.

This is a particularly fraught election year, with the work of elections officials being questioned in some places as being partisan, deliberately inaccurate or just sloppy. In years of covering elections and their outcomes, however, the experience of this newspaper is that these folks are extraordinarily devoted to getting the votes counted correctly and as quickly as possible. There may be exceptions to that rule, but if these officials are continuously berated and threatened, as is also happening, those who do the work out of belief in our democratic system will step aside and leave it to others.

With fewer people running the elections, voting will become harder and more time consuming, as is already happening, even with early and absentee voting made more available through the pandemic. So now would be the time to thank those who do the work, and if longer lines due to turnout happen, to try to come up with constructive criticisms rather than angry ones.

And step up to work at the polls. As longtime poll workers age, or grow weary of being on the receiving end of abusive rhetoric, new ones need to take over if our system is to continue to function. If we can all take part in our elections, not only through voting but through ensuring that all can cast their ballots, democracy just might have a chance.

But still, of course, vote on Tuesday, Nov. 8. If we don’t do that, we cannot complain about the governing that is happening once those who are voted in begin to implement their planning pre-election. And listen carefully to what those plans are, to better judge which candidates you want to have in office.