Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial beginning of the campaign season. Of course, candidates have been hitting the hustings for months and primaries have already been held, but with most Americans more interested in summer barbecues, vacations, and fun in the sun, candidates know that voters only now start turning their attention to the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In less than two months, in fact, New Yorkers will be able to start going to early voting<\/a> polling centers and submitting mail-in ballots\u2013 that is if the President\u2019s efforts<\/a> to derail mail-in voting fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Running for office is rough-and tumble and \u201cmud\u201d is often \u201cslung\u201d as the candidates battle for advantage. However, until recently serious challenges to the manner<\/em> in which elections were run were few and far between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Trump has been a leader in the challenging of election results \u2013 in his view, only elections that he wins are ones that are valid. When he loses he falsely claims<\/a> it is due to a \u201crigged\u201d result. He has raised the same false claim<\/a> when his allies lose. This isn\u2019t just bad sportsmanship and being a \u201csore loser,\u201d it\u2019s dangerous for democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mimicking that line has emerged nationally<\/a> when candidates lose elections and the specter of a \u201crigged election\u201d is floated before votes are even cast. That claim has been raised<\/a> already in the race for New York Governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an effort to blunt the possibility of a claim that an election has been \u201cstolen\u201d in New York, civic organizations last week urged<\/a> candidates for federal and state office to \u201cjoin in a bipartisan effort affirming the importance and the integrity of the outcome of the state\u2019s upcoming elections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The groups pointed out that \u2018Every elected official swears to support and defend the federal and state Constitutions. That promise hinges on a commitment to abide by the certified results of elections, without regard to party or power. Comments by candidates for office that echo assertions \u2013 without evidence \u2013 that previous elections have been \u2018stolen,\u2019 or otherwise raise such concerns, undermine that commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n