Be sure to vote on Tuesday in the primary election. It’s your civic duty.

Know that sometimes politicians want to make you apathetic. Sometimes, the strategists think their candidate can do better if people don’t show up to vote. Their plan is to turn you off.

Don’t let them succeed. The best solution to the vitriol and intransigence the state and country find themselves in is you getting to the polls on election days.

Sure, most races are not close. Sure, one vote probably isn’t going to decide much. But the votes do add up. It takes several drops of rain to make a storm. Farmers these days will take each and every drop. By the same token, it takes many people voting to send a message to government. As an aggregate, the votes become quite meaningful.

August might not seem like the best time to hold an election, with people gone for vacations and such, but that’s another matter. Let’s show how civic-minded Minnesotans really are.

The polls are slated to be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., though in some places they are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.