We’ve heard this refrain time and time again: “Every vote counts.” It may sound silly or naive, but we still believe it’s true.

With the presidential election, even though we are a blue state, that doesn’t mean Democrats are an automatic shoe-in for winning the state, although it seems extremely likely.

Strong turnout in rural counties usually goes to Republicans, but that’s not always the case, even here in the North Country.

During the 2020 presidential election, the majority of votes in Essex County went to Democrat Joe Biden, who beat Republican Donald Trump by a margin of 9,950 to 8,982, according to the Board of Elections. In Franklin County, Trump won over Biden by a margin of 9,668 to 9,253, according to the Board of Elections.

In the 21st Congressional District, Republican Elise Stefanik beat Democrat Tedra Cobb in both counties: 9,850 to 9,278 in Essex and 10,329 to 8,892 in Franklin.

In both of these cases — for the White House and the House of Representatives — there was no landslide in Essex or Franklin counties. That said, Biden swept the state over Trump by a margin of 5,244,886 to 3,251,997 votes, and Stefanik won the district over Cobb by 188,655 to 131,995 votes, according to the state Board of Elections.

That’s a lot of votes that were counted — yours among them. You may not cast the deciding vote in an election, but it still has power. No matter who you vote for, if you haven’t voted already, we urge you to vote on Election Day.

While we are not endorsing any candidates this year — which is usually the case — we realize that this election could define the future of our federal government system and world peace, not just in the next four years but for many years to come. It is a defining moment for America.

How you interpret the previous paragraph is up to you, but no matter which way you lean, every one of us can decide how to act after all the votes are counted. It is up to each American to choose peace or unrest in the United States.

Even though this presidential vote will decide who gets inaugurated on Jan. 20, it is how we act in the days following Nov. 5 that will test our country and either keep us on the current tracks of democracy or run off the rails. We don’t want to see another Jan. 6. We don’t want to see a civil war, as fearmongering people have predicted. We want to see peace.