With the pre-election polls suggesting that there are no competitive races for the major elective offices in Massachusetts, there is a temptation to think that our vote won’t matter. However, we would urge all of our readers to consider this: For the first time in quite a while (almost 100 years), the contrast between the candidates for our state-wide offices — governor, secretary of state, and so forth — are huge. We do not need to go into a lot of detail, other than to say that the Republicans for some of these offices are supporters of former President Donald Trump, and well, that’s all we need to say. And while the polls suggest that these candidates will lose by double-digit margins, if those who are not Trump voters take for granted the outcome of the election and do not turn out to vote, it is conceivable that those Trump-backed candidates could win. And even if they don’t win, the election results could be a lot closer than if there had been a big turnout. Conversely, we also urge supporters of Trump who may feel that their vote won’t matter to turn out to vote to show how strong his support is in our state. We are at a perilous time in the history of our country. Our democratic norms are under assault more than at any time since 1860. Exercising our right to vote has never been more important. We urge everyone to register to vote, and then go out and vote, in the upcoming state election.