As if 2020 needed more anxiety-inducing fault lines, Election Day ground to a close settling little more than the fact that the U.S. is still sharply divided. The razor-thin voter margin means that for the most part, voters pretty much stuck to their Democratic or Republican tribal alliances.

Even if the close election does not represent a presidential mandate for the winner, addressing that divide — which persisted despite an unprecedented voter turnout nationwide — must be mandatory.

By late Wednesday, it seemed former Vice President Joe Biden had a tentative hold on enough states to secure at least the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidential race. But he did so in the midst of legal challenges now being mounted by Donald Trump’s campaign, signaling that the president was not in the least ready to concede any of the outstanding tight races in the battleground states.

Biden’s initial public remarks were as they should be: encouraging to his supporters and conciliatory to those opposed, vowing he would, if elected, “govern as an American president.”

By contrast, Trump made early-morning statements on Wednesday, first tweeting that his opponents were “trying to steal the election.” Then at the White House, he flatly declared that “Frankly, we did win this election,” citing wins in states where, in fact, votes were still being counted.

That’s right, Mr. President: Counting votes is what assures Americans that their democracy is still functioning as it should, and that process needs to play out until the end.

Also to play out will be the rights of any trailing candidate to contest the results. The Trump campaign has indicated it will seek a recount of the votes in Wisconsin. It has sued to stop counting votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia until it gains better access to watch the process.

Among its fights in Pennsylvania, the president seeks to challenge a state high court ruling allowing an extension of the deadline to receive mail-in ballots.

So the nation should steel itself for a period in which these disputes get resolved. There’s hope that state officials have enough accuracy checks in place so that these questions can be settled in fairly short order.

That will enable the country to move on so that government can begin the real work of delivering what Americans need. Judging by an exit poll conducted by Edison Research, only 1 in 5 voters ranked the coronavirus pandemic as their top concern. More of them said it’s the economy that worries them the most.

This suggests that a moderate agenda, one aiming to balance public health and business concerns, could bridge some of the policy divisions. Biden has pledged to “defeat the virus” as the route to economic revival, but voters want to know exactly what that means to their jobs and livelihoods.

And what that should mean is presidential leadership, modeling and advocating behavior that minimizes risk, while working to keep economies open as much as possible. Protecting job security is the ultimate bipartisan principle.

For the immediate term, however, the imperative is to respect the voting process and conclude this election properly.

Hawaii, in fact, has had its own experience with close races. Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig has chronicled its 1960 election, in which Richard Nixon narrowly won in the first count. The state sent a GOP slate of electors to vote in the Electoral College.

A recount later swung the race to John F. Kennedy, Lessig wrote, and a second slate of electors was named and accepted.

Accuracy matters. Integrity counts. America must take the time required to get things right, if Americans are to have faith that their democracy still works.