Editorial: It’s your turn to change the world

OK. That’s it.

The 2024 election cycle might be the longest and the shortest ever. In some ways, it feels like it’s been going on since Donald Trump announced his Republican candidacy in 2015. In some sense, it might be dated to 2021, when the former president suggested he would run again after President Joe Biden was sworn in.

It became official in 2022, when Trump announced his third run for the presidency, a rematch of 2020.

But this race became real in July when Biden bowed out of reelection and Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in as the Democratic nominee.

The last four months have been a nonstop campaign in the airports and fairgrounds and Main Streets and college campuses of the Keystone State. The candidates and their surrogates waged a ground war for the votes of Pennsylvanians.

Maybe you didn’t go to a rally or otherwise engage with a candidate visit, but if you lived anywhere in the nation’s largest swing state, there was no way to avoid the onslaught. The commercials popped up on your television and your phone. The campaign signs fought for your attention in yards and on roadsides. Even the rarely voting Amish were lobbied.

But after all that, today is it. It’s your turn.

The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. If you are not one of the more than 1.7 million Pennsylvanians who have already voted, it’s your chance to make your voice heard.

It is your responsibility and your privilege — and it is a unique position for Pennsylvanians, who are perennial deciders in the presidential race.

Our divided political nature along with the size of our population puts us at the tipping point. What voters have to realize is that they make a choice whether they cast a ballot or not.

Alaskans can abdicate their responsibility and it might not be noticed because of the small population. If a New Yorker or Mississippian doesn’t show up, the overwhelming numbers for one party or the other mean poor turnout might make no difference.

But in Pennsylvania, every vote really does count — especially in a presidential election.

So do it. Go to the polls. Cast your ballot. Because every four years, Pennsylvania has the opportunity to change the world.