LET VOTE COUNTING CONTINUE UNTIL IT’S DONE

Despite national polls showing Democratic challenger Joe Biden leading President Donald Trump on average by more than 7 percent in the run up to the final day of voting Tuesday, Americans quickly realized Tuesday night they were in for another nail-biter of an election. To put it bluntly: Trump voters turned out and there was no widespread repudiation of the Republican president as Democrats had hoped. In this unusual year, during a pandemic that’s killed 232,000 Americans and in a nation undergoing a racial reckoning after protests in cities large and small, that in itself was a surprise.

In a late speech, Biden urged patience until votes were tallied in coming days and Trump in a tweet complained that “We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election.” Both candidates said they were on track to a win, but Trump’s rhetoric was the equivalent of a match. Vote counting after polls close routinely takes days or weeks in states from coast to coast, especially in California, and suggestions otherwise are duplicitous and dangerous.

As of press time late Tuesday, both Trump and

Biden had clear paths to Electoral College victories

— even though Biden, like Hillary Clinton in 2016, looked certain to win the popular vote. A winner may be clear by Wednesday — or maybe not for weeks because of recounts and court challenges.

With or without delays, however, America will face a test of its national character in coming weeks.

In normal times, the huge turnout and the heavy interest in the race would have been heralded as a triumph for democracy. And it still should be. More than 100 million people had cast ballots before the typical final day of voting began. Many votes remained uncounted nationwide as Tuesday turned into Wednesday and tensions grew. In 2020, many

Democrats and many Trump supporters do not like each other, and serious civil unrest could result from any belief that the election was stolen.

Such unrest didn’t occur after four recent close presidential elections — in 1960, 1976, 2000 and 2016.

But now social media can make America feel like a tinderbox. An attempt must by made by a diverse group of prominent leaders to keep America calm as much as possible in coming days, starting with former Presidents Barack Obama and George W.

Bush, and former Cabinet members such as Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright.

Protests are inevitable. But Americans need to urge patience and draw the line at violence. None should be tolerated. If the president won’t urge

Americans to take a breath and a pause as all the votes are counted, others need to step into that void

— and quickly. Chaos during a deadly pandemic could put lives at risk. The nation needs responsible leaders to act responsibly, starting with the president. Even and especially if he’s only president for three more months. Let the voting be completed.