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.

In less than two months, in fact, New Yorkers will be able to start going to early voting polling centers and submitting mail-in ballots– that is if the President’s efforts to derail mail-in voting fail.

Running for office is rough-and tumble and “mud” is often “slung” as the candidates battle for advantage. However, until recently serious challenges to the manner in which elections were run were few and far between.

President Trump has been a leader in the challenging of election results – in his view, only elections that he wins are ones that are valid. When he loses he falsely claims it is due to a “rigged” result. He has raised the same false claim when his allies lose. This isn’t just bad sportsmanship and being a “sore loser,” it’s dangerous for democracy.

Mimicking that line has emerged nationally when candidates lose elections and the specter of a “rigged election” is floated before votes are even cast. That claim has been raised already in the race for New York Governor.

In an effort to blunt the possibility of a claim that an election has been “stolen” in New York, civic organizations last week urged candidates for federal and state office to “join in a bipartisan effort affirming the importance and the integrity of the outcome of the state’s upcoming elections.”

The groups pointed out that ‘Every 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 – without evidence – that previous elections have been ‘stolen,’ or otherwise raise such concerns, undermine that commitment.”

The groups spotlighted New York’s election security system that allows challenges to election results and contains mechanisms for the audits of results and recounts. They highlighted that New York law is backstopped by the use of paper ballots that can be counted in the event of a challenge. 

In the statement, issued by Citizens Union, Common Cause/NY, the League of Women Voters/N.Y.S., New York City Bar, NYPIRG, and Reinvent Albany, the groups urged that “candidates for New York office safeguard the integrity of the state elections.”

The groups’ clear concern is that the lies directed at how elections are run not only causes voter confusion but undermines Americans’ belief in their own democracy. In short, the groups said, those lies are a cancer in our democracy.

Since the beginning of the nation, New York’s electeds have honored the decisions by voters regardless of who prevails. The groups argued that New York’s candidates for office must commit to that principle ahead of the 2026 elections — defending state certification, recognizing certified winners, and opposing any effort to cast doubt on the integrity of New York’s system.

The New York Constitution clearly states that there is a right to vote; it is a “right,” not a privilege. There is no such provision stating that there is a right to open a bank account, or to buy alcohol. As with any other “right,” policymakers must, from time to time, ensure that obstacles to the exercise of that right are as few as possible to guarantee that right is realized and isn’t being infringed upon by outdated laws and/or the failure to implement technologies that could better enfranchise voters.

By clearly urging candidates to state their support for the election verdict rendered by a majority of the voters and publicly challenge claims of election fraud, the groups are setting a standard that they hope those running for office will embrace. Candidates’ endorsement of this standard will also help convince New Yorkers that they should be confident in the outcome of elections and by extension their own democracy. Few things could be more important this election season.