It is Election Day. A day when all registered and eligible persons exercise the greatest power we hold as Americans – the ability to hire our governmental leaders at all levels. A power greater than the sword or the pen.
The Detroit Regional Chamber cares deeply about the health of our democracy and civil society as free enterprise and economic growth can only exist in an environment with a well-informed, engaged, and fact-based citizenry – one that has confidence in core American institutions and norms.
As voting comes to a close today, and the vote counting process continues for some time in the days to come, the Chamber will continue to share information and resources for business leaders and their employees to, hopefully, contribute to a calm and orderly conclusion to this very long election season. Some of the messages the Chamber is sharing include:
- Our election workers and volunteers deserve our respect and thanks. These people are our neighbors and many are volunteers. Regardless, all those engaged in helping voters cast ballots and count ballots follow strict guidelines and disruptions and threats to their work must be condemned by all.
Related: Keeping Civic Duty Civil During the 2024 General Election
- Counting ballots accurately takes time. While we will know the outcome of many races on Election Night, close races will take time. This is normal, especially in high-turnout elections such as 2024.
Related: What Happens After the Polls Close?
- Our elections are decentralized. We do not have national elections organized by the federal government. Each state, and jurisdictions within each state, handle things a little differently, albeit with common guidelines around security and integrity. Just because a large city or county has different processes or technology than a smaller jurisdiction does not mean one process is more secure or accurate than another.
- Candidates do not determine if they are winners. Beware of candidates declaring victory before results are official or at least clear. Official certification comes only from the Secretaries of State in individual states. In the meantime, rely upon credible and non-partisan news sites (such as Associated Press) to predict winners and losers.
- There is a lot of disinformation and misinformation circulating. Foreign actors such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and even China have state or non-state actors that continue to advance conspiracies through social media with the goal of damaging trust in our democratic processes. Additionally, U.S.-based partisan actors also have incentive to distract and create confusion. Verify claims through trusted sources with journalist standards (e.g., major established newspapers, including the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News) or other trusted non-partisan sources.
- America’s elections are safe, secure, and accurate. Election fraud is rare, and it is a crime more severe than stealing your neighbor’s Buick. While no doubt there will be “noise” in the days to come, as leaders, we have an important role to help our fellow citizens keep calm and reinforce the soundness of our election processes.
I invite you to explore more resources from the Chamber at detroitchamber.com/2024-elections.