Stickers are pictured during the primary election at the Orchard Hill Church on Tuesday in Butler. Butler Eagle File Photo

Today is Election Day, a date that for many cannot have arrived soon enough.

This has been a very long campaign season, with more pivotal moments and more unexpected changes than any presidential campaign in history. Today is a chance to put that behind us and move forward.

If you haven’t already, vote today. There are multiple state-level offices on the ballot, in addition to President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House, making it an important election.

It’s also likely to be a close one, both in Pennsylvania and nationwide. Our nation feels sharply divided at the moment.

Election Day is a chance to put those divisions behind us, by first participating in the process and then respecting the outcome of that process. There will almost certainly be claims of voter fraud, but don’t listen blindly to one side or the other.

Let courts weigh in on the claims and then respect the decision of those courts — even if the side you support loses. That is part of the very essence of democracy — not just that each person can exercise their right to vote, but that when we lose we still recognize the validity of the result.

More than one pundit has predicted we won’t know whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump has won this year’s Presidential election until days or possibly even weeks after Election Day.

If that is the case, remember that letting the process unfold is a vital part of ensuring the public’s trust in elections, something that’s more important than ever before.

Take pride in participating in the Democratic process and also in supporting it.

— JK