You’ve read the newspapers and seen the debates.

You’ve been assaulted by TV commercials and “robocalls.”

And you’ve been told by the pollsters which way today’s election is likely headed.

None of that matters now.

The only thing that counts today is the ballot you cast — or don’t cast — at your local polling place.

To anyone who believes his or her vote doesn’t count, we could invite you and 536 others into a fairly small room to replay what occurred in Florida in 2000, where 537 votes were all that separated the two presidential aspirants and was all that was needed to spark an unprecedented constitutional crisis that still reverberates today.

That some pundits foresee another close election today only underlines the old rubric that “every vote counts.”

Let’s be sure that’s indeed the case.

We encourage anyone who detects voter fraud or mishandling of ballots — or who believes access to the polls is being systematically denied to anyone based on their color, gender, religion, sexual orientation or ZIP code — to report evidence of such misdeeds to the secretary of state or to local election clerks.

Let’s be grateful we live in a country where transitions of power are handled at the polls, not the business end of a gun.

Let’s come together and hope that our election is decisive — either way — and that there are no “hanging chads,” voter suppression or other barriers to a clear representation of the public’s will today.

Let’s come together and realize that — even in our winner-take-all-system — the opposition that loses today still has much to contribute to the debate, as well as a sizable constituency whose voices are important to being a truly representative democracy.

Finally, let’s be sure we wake up on Wednesday grateful that we are Americans, and let’s work for the day when there are no longer red or blue states but a red-whiteand blue nation that bleeds together on the battlefields of democracy.

Whatever happens today, we hope the winners talk with the losers about the way forward. There can be no victor or vanquished when so much is at stake, and no one party or person has all the answers for our intractible, growing problems. Compromise is what’s been lost in our political process, and here’s hoping today’s results move us ahead in being able to talk to one another civilly and productively.

Most of all, whoever wins, let’s hope for wisdom for our elected leaders, that they may restore our trust in a bipartisan, divided government, whether at the national, state or local level.

There’s too much to lose to be a nation divided, today or tomorrow.

Go vote.

Today, we are the envy of the world, in view of other nations and the descendants of generations of Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our right to govern ourselves.

Whatever your politics or beliefs, speak today — and speak loudly, through the simple act of voting — and be sure to help any of your friends, family or neighbors who may have difficulty gaining access to the poll.

Today is the time to vote, but tomorrow will be time to unite.

Let’s be sure that, tomorrow, we emerge with peace of mind, knowing we’re all in this together.