With polls open until 8 p.m. today, there still is time for people to vote. Election officials in Butler County report a record number of 121,730 registered voters eligible, and are predicting an 80 percent turnout.

The historic nature of this presidential election is credited with driving the heightened voter interest, but there also are important races at the state and local level.

While most voters will be glad to have the seemingly eternal campaign over, voters should resist the temptation to tune out once the votes are counted. A better response, even if it requires more effort, is for voters to remain involved and informed — regardless of their view of the outcome.

Politicians make many promises when running for office, and voters need to hold them accountable by staying involved.

National opinion polls suggest most Americans want change, and both presidential candidates have promised to end the status quo. Just what sort of change materializes depends on not only who wins the White House but also on what level of partisanship is found in Congress.

Voters should remain as engaged during the next president's administration as they have been in the final weeks and months of the 2008 campaign. And being engaged means following the actions, not just words, of the new president's administration as well members of Congress.

Both candidates have promised to curtail the influence of special interests. Both have promised dramatic reforms for health care, and a new energy policy that will end America's dependence on foreign oil.

Many more promises have been made — from tax policy and job creation to merit pay for teachers and ending pork projects and earmarks.

Staying informed and remaining vocal as a way to hold politicians accountable — from the president and members of Congress on down to state and local officeholders — would strengthen democracy. And if politicians were to behave as if they were accountable, the sense of powerlessness felt by so many people might fade.

Heightened voter involvement following this election also might serve to protect against abuse of power, or tendencies of a supermajority in Congress to overreach.

Not unexpectedly, the us-versus-them partisan atmosphere intensified as Election Day approached. And, sadly, the partisan divisions appear unlikely to diminish once the 2008 election results are known.

America remains locked in a duopoly, in which the two dominant parties take turns dictating the agenda, and doing the bidding of their own special interests.

In some ways, the two-party system does not serve America well. It's understood that most Americans occupy the political middle ground, with some leaning left and some leaning right. But the vitriol heard from both the far-left and the far-right cause those in the middle to tune out, or reject today's partisan politics as hopelessly dysfunctional.

Both Barack Obama and John McCain have tried to portray themselves as nonidealogical problem solvers. But, to varying degrees, they both have backed conventional party positions in the past. How either one governs might depend on whether they can bridge the partisan divide — as they have promised.

Today's election should not be seen so much as the end of a campaign as a new beginning. And, based on countless campaign speeches, voters should expect to see a new approach to solving problems — one that is nonpartisan and less influenced by special interests than the broader interests of the American public.

Time will tell whether the change we've been promised will be delivered. And instead of waiting four more years to pay attention, voters should keep their attention on their elected leaders' actions — comparing the actions to campaign rhetoric.

Words are nice, but actions matter.