Today is (finally!) Election Day. Make your voice heard.

Opinion Editor’s Note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Minnesota Star Tribune editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom.

More than 76 million Americans, including about 1 million Minnesotans, have already voted. Otherwise, Tuesday is the day your voice will be heard and the votes will be counted.

And this will be taken into account, despite misinformation emanating from foreign and domestic sources, undermining the confidence of some citizens in the American election season. In fact, despite an unprecedented pandemic and widespread doubt on Election Day 2020 and beyond, voting this presidential year is considered the safest ever. Additional guarantees should make voting this year protocols even more protected, especially here at home.

“From the administration’s point of view, the number of votes is good; the level of calm is good,” said the Minnesota Secretary of State. Steve Simon. “My dual goals or wishes for this election cycle are high turnout and low drama, and the indications at this point are that we’ll get mostly both of those things.”

Despite the deep divisions that plague every state, Minnesotans can agree on this: Our consistently high turnout, which typically ranks in the top three if not the top nationally, reflects a healthy, civic-minded and civic-minded spirit.

Additional reasons for the impressive participation include “good laws, including some good new laws that really promote voters and access while still balancing safety,” Simon said. These “good, clear laws” include very specific processes to allow only legal voting. In fact, Simon added, research since 2015 has shown that of the nearly 13.4 million votes cast in Minnesota during that period, only three noncitizens voted. That’s three too many, Simon quickly explains, but overall “a microscopically small number.”

This efficiency and effectiveness belies the fears some have about America’s elections. And unfortunately, as with many other aspects of the current cultural, social and political environment, levels of trust are divided along party lines. In fact, according to a new study from Pew Research. vote released last week, while 73% of voters say the election “will be conducted and conducted well or somewhat well,” only 57% of those voting Republican in the presidential race say so, compared with 90% of those who votes for Democrats.