Someone will win the election. Our job is to accept when it’s over.

This space in the register on the Sunday before the presidential election is often used uplifting encouragement to vote. To participate, to play our role in the government process.

Iowans should absolutely exercise this right. For eligible voters, it is only too late when the polls close at 8 p.m. November 5 – Iowa allows this same-day voter registration as long as someone has the proper documentation or a registered voter from the same district who can testify.

More: Missing the voter registration deadline in Iowa? You can still register to vote at the polls

But casting a vote is not the end of a citizen’s responsibility. An orderly democracy requires that supporters of the losing candidate face the facts and acknowledge, vocally or silently, that the other will be sworn in in January. In other words, it is appropriate to strongly advocate for an accurate counting of ballots and judicial review of possible irregularities. But when these processes are exhausted, the time comes to accept the outcome and stop sniping.

This isn’t the editor’s other usual bromide to put aside our differences and come together after a painful election. It is an expression of serious concern insinuations – and in some cases loud declarations – have already been made – that a certain outcome in the presidential race is likely to be illegitimate.

Democracy sometimes means moving forward without solving everything

The American election machinery is good at collecting all eligible votes and counting only those votes. Small differences are usually the result of errors and not fraud. Accusations to the contrary abound, but evidence is lacking. Even if the process isn’t perfect, admitting the outcome is the right move. The alternative is frightening: a rapid escalation from “the will of eligible participating voters was not reflected” to “the declared winners have no legitimacy” to “extralegal maneuvering or even political violence may be necessary to uphold democracy.”

As volatile as American politics are at the moment, it is absurd to argue that the only possible next steps are to abandon the rule of law or start a rebellion.

American elections are not shams like we see in Russia and elsewhere. The expected margins of the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are extremely tight. Like many others, we will quote The statesmanship of Al Gore in 2000 because his actions were exactly what was needed. The Democrat and his team have explored their position politically and legally. These lawsuits led to Gore losing at the U.S. Supreme Court and in Florida, after which he gracefully conceded.

It is worth noting that in December 2000, it was not established that George W. Bush indisputably received more votes in Florida; the challenges ended because the established rules for contesting the result had run their course and Gore got the short end of the stick. Unfortunately, the Democrats disputed the results in the election observation on January 6. But Bush was inaugurated two weeks later and that was the end of it. If Tuesday’s election comes down to close margins in one or more states, with votes being painstakingly counted and recounted for days, a lawsuit is in order. But that’s what it has to be.

The events of late 2020 and 2021, after Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden, show the bitter fruits of not accepting election results. What we’ve learned since January 2021 only emphasizes how terrible and dangerous the Trump-inspired siege of the U.S. Capitol was as we watched it unfold in real time. The most generous interpretation of the rationale for the riot is that protesters wrongly equated discontent over COVID-related voting procedure changes with evidence of outright fraud and disenfranchisement. A more plausible interpretation is that Trump and his team never intended for Americans to vote for Biden. Such a strategy is never acceptable.

If Trump does not win a second term, he will have the opportunity to get it right this time and, after exhausting legal challenges, step aside without further fight. Harris must make the same right choice if she loses.

The American election apparatus is reliable

It’s difficult to parse the flood of polls and early voting data on the Nov. 5 vote. But if Harris or Trump becomes the apparent winner, anyone who says “that outcome is impossible” is lying. The margin can be razor thin. And each campaign will have a more than sufficient horde of pollsters and advocates to represent its interests in the coming weeks. But when that dust settles, elected officials must get to work on behalf of their constituents. Citizens should look for credible information and not conclude that every decision means the end of democracy as we know it.

When that dust settles, elected officials must get to work on behalf of their constituents. Citizens must look for credible information. Do not assume that all statements are true. Do not jump to the conclusion that every development means the end of democracy as we know it.

We do not pretend to predict the future. But we feel confident that we can say that Iowans and all Americans should feel good about the vast majority of people who are trying to hold free and fair elections and the mechanisms they put in place to do so.

Free and fair elections can bring major problems, such as… recent burning of ballot boxes in the northwest, or whiplash over voter eligibility, as in Virginia. Or it can raise concerns, like this one about voting challenges here in Iowa. But news reports point to heroic efforts to find voters whose ballots were damaged and help them obtain new ballots. And the dispute over the removal of names from the voter rolls in Virginia implies plausible motives on the part of the competing parties. Free and fair elections do not depend on whether or not the courts were right to side with Virginia.

We should all have learned a lot from the 2020 election and its aftermath. It is not necessarily suspicious when the lead fluctuates due to new votes well into the morning after election night or even on the following days. This is how vote counting works. Courts give litigants due process after the election and then make decisions we have to live with.

‘Winning’ is not the only consideration. Accept the result. The alternative is dangerous.

Lucas Grundmeier, on behalf of the editorial staff of the Register

This editorial is the opinion of the Des Moines Register editorial board: Carol Hunter, editor-in-chief; Lucas Grundmeier, opinion editor; and Richard Doak and Rox Laird, members of the editorial board.

Want more opinions? Read other perspectives with our free newsletter or visit us at DesMoinesRegister.com/opinion. Comment your opinion by submitting a letter to the editor at DesMoinesRegister.com/letters.

This article originally appeared on the Des Moines Register: Opinion: At some point we all have to accept the election results