Tribune editorial

North Dakotans voting today are decision-makers.

And we've important stuff to decide.

Who would be president? Congressman? Governor? And on down the line from the state to the county to the legislative district and to the cities. We've tax issues to consider: Measure No. 1 and Measure No. 2.

There will be no empty vote. No wasted vote. No votes that do not count.

People voting, some believe, choose the right path more frequently than elected officials. They believe citizens casting their ballots know the truth better than all officialdom. And why not? For two years a wave of information about candidates and issues has flooded our daily lives. There have been forums and debates, nationally and locally. We the People have an awful lot of fodder for consideration as we vote today. We are informed. Why shouldn't we get it right?

America has been paying attention, and likely the turnout today will be of record proportions.

While there has been nastiness all the way around in this election, do not let that overshadow the real vigor that democracy has displayed in the long campaign season.

Those voting absentee are done, as are those early voters. Joining them are voters going to the polls today, to take part in a national ritual that dates to the founding of the nation. This is the legacy of George Washington, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and those early citizens who stepped out of the flow of the expanding British Empire to establish this nation. It's part of a legacy of Abraham Lincoln who at great sacrifice to all held the nation together through the Civil War. It's also the legacy of farmers, shopkeepers, factory workers, clerks and ordinary people who have, and still do, make up the great body of the nation - born and naturalized citizens.

Flag waving?

You bet. Election day, like the Fourth of July and other national holidays, are fine days to display the flag and hear the rhetoric of national pride. To cast our ballots under the waving stars and stripes. To agree to disagree. To accept the outcome of the vote in the spirit of democracy. And to return again to the debate.

If you have not voted do it. No registration is required. With little effort you can find out what voting district you live in and where the polling places are located. It will not take much time and the effort will be worth it.

Vote.