Editorial: Tuesday's election showed the democratic system works

Whether Wednesday morning brought jubilation or despair, American voters should agree that the nation’s electoral system worked. President-elect Donald Trump’s sweeping victory came remarkably smoothly on Election Day. While there was some isolated trouble at polling places across the country, voting to a vast degree was orderly, safe and convenient, which should underscore public confidence in the result.

Trump’s victory was confirmed early Wednesday after he captured the battleground state of Wisconsin, putting the former and future president above the 270 electoral votes required to win the White House.

While a final vote count will take days, Trump was on track to win both the Electoral College and the national popular vote in his campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris. It was a stunning turnaround for a polarizing figure who regularly attacks the nation’s institutions and norms.

But despite the most fraught presidential election in modern times, Election Day on Tuesday went noticeably well. While several bomb threats were reported in battleground states, the threats in Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania were quickly determined to be hoaxes. Elections officials evacuated some polling places and extended voting hours to accommodate the disruptions. However, states showed their competence by having contingencies in place and were prompt in reporting results. That was all the more important Tuesday given Trump’s baseless claims about election security and fraud in the run-up to the election.

Tuesday’s experience shows that the people who run the nation’s elections are committed to a fair and free democracy. That should at least comfort Harris supporters and others whose candidates lost in down-ballot races. Elections offices, for the most part, build on their improvements from one campaign cycle to the next. Voters who were disappointed Tuesday can look to 2026 and beyond for better candidates, better messaging or better turnout, or maybe all three, buoyed by the comfort that the voting process itself is functional and secure.

The winners Tuesday are obligated not to undermine a government they inherit. Whether it’s the White House, Congress, state legislature or local government seat, these new office-holders — Trump included — should look to strengthen these institutions of democracy. The peaceful transfer of power is a model America gifts to the world.

As former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, an outspoken Trump critic, noted on social media Wednesday: “Our nation’s democratic system functioned last night and we have a new President-elect,” she wrote on the platform X, adding: “All Americans are bound, whether we like the outcome or not, to accept the results of our elections.” That’s the fair price of giving every voter a choice in our system of self-determination.

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