Editorial Board: Reasons why we’re thrilled this election season has come to an end

It was irritating enough when all you had to worry about was a few ads in your newspaper, a few more in your mailbox and a few dozen on television each night. But that was the good old days. Now, everywhere where you look or listen there are political ads.

Checking out soccer scores in England? There they are, the faces of local politicians. Your phone buzzed? That’s another text asking for money. Need a respite by tuning in Pandora or Spotify? Won’t help. Ads there, too. Here are some other things we won’t miss about this campaign:

Untruths – There were some whoppers going around. But these two we found especially aggravating. When Jeff Denham says he wants to protect some aspects of the Affordable Care Act, he’s fudging. He voted to destroy it 60 times, for crying out loud.

When the ACA was more commonly called Obamacare, all Republicans hated it. But they’ve since learned that the Affordable Care Act covers their adult kids or their own chronic conditions. Losing it – or having insurance priced out of reach by Republican-backed changes – would be a horrible fate. Suddenly, the ACA is as popular among many Republicans as Obamacare is among Democrats. What can Republicans do to distance themselves from all those votes they took to destroy it?

Insist they love the ACA. Too late.

Harder’s problem is water. He just doesn’t seem all that interested in the subject. Control of the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced rivers is utterly critical here, but on Harder’s list of priorities it ranks fourth. He offers some gauzy ideas about efficiency, storage and desalination. But our rivers have water; our concern is how we protect our right to use it wisely and beneficially.

The Non-Voters – It was reported last week that 57,000 absentee ballots had been returned a week early in Stanislaus County. Wow. Across the congressional district, it was 75,000. And it was evenly split between the major parties. Does this mean the so-called millennial generation has finally gotten involved? We’re counting on it.

Dirty Tricks – In California, we’re lucky. But in other states, Republicans have tried a host of tricks to keep voters away from the polls. In Georgia, they’re using something called “exact match,” meaning a misplaced hyphen can keep you from voting. And the Republican candidate for governor is likening Democrats to Russians, saying they’ve tried to hack the voter database. Huh?

In North Dakota, Republicans removed native Americans (who vote overwhelmingly Democratic) from voter rolls because the reservations where they live never bothered to create street addresses (they get their mail at the post offices). It could mean 18,000 Americans will be deprived of their votes. In Ohio, Florida and a few other states, the number of polling places in poor neighborhoods have been reduced – guaranteeing longer lines.

It makes you appreciate our non-gerrymandered districts (drawn by a commission), our inclusive registration rules and that our county officials pay close attention to every electoral detail. The only thing we don’t appreciate is taking 30 days to count the votes, but we can even live with it.

Just Do It –We’ll spare you the usual speech about voting being more than just your civic duty – noting it’s a privilege and an opportunity to be heard. But we will remind you that millions of people across the world don’t have the right to vote. For hundreds of millions more, voting is an act of courage.

Not voting, not caring, not participating is the surest way to lose that right. So take part. Be heard. Vote and be proud you did.