Today America comes together in a somewhat antiquated, but critically important ritual to choose our country’s next leader.

The 2016 presidential race will go down in history as being one of the nastiest campaigns in modern history.

Candidates and their supporters have become quite vile toward one another in an ugly display of our political differences.

Name-calling and insults have been the norm. Allegations of inciting violence and foreign powers allegedly hacking into campaign computers have been the bitter icing on an indisputably vile cake.

As voters head to the polls today, researchers suggest this election is a turning point in our culture as more voters suggest they are voting against the opposing candidate than voting for another candidate.

If good things can occur from such an ugly campaign, we hope our nation sees at least two of them, starting today.

First, hopefully, the emotions that stirred the fervor in this year’s election will prompt more Americans to vote. All too often, voter turnout is horrendous. Maybe that will change this year.

Second, the bitter campaign shows deep, deep divisions in our country. The only way to begin pulling our country back together and overcoming those divisions is through talking about them, openly and honestly and seeking common ground.

Both sides of the presidential debate likely would agree that the country’s divisions are troublesome.

How we pull together to resolve this will define our country for generations to come. We can either continue to be more and more divided or we can come together and heal our nation.

We hope the latter begins late today when the voting is over and the future of our country begins.

Please vote today, and then begin thinking about our common future.