If the election is contested again in November, will corporate leaders push back?
If the election is contested again in November, will corporate leaders push back?
We’ve been looking at the role of corporations in the 2024 election for our series Office Politics. But with voting underway in many states, some advocacy groups are already turning their attention to what role corporations should take after the polling places close.
Many election watchers are expecting a close — and likely contested — election outcome. But if it comes down to it, will the corporate world speak up?
“There is a sort of call to arms, to say: ‘You business leader, you trusted brand — will you publicly commit now to validating the outcome of the 2024 election?'” said Najma Roberts with the advocacy group Democracy Fund.
But corporations these days are a bit risk averse, she said. “People do not want to be canceled. They don’t want their brands to be canceled. They don’t want to be politically attacked.”
The corporate world has plenty of recent examples of when taking a stand — on DEI, LGBTQ rights or a host of other issues — led to exactly those outcomes, with some companies choosing to dial back on commitments as a result.
Once the voting is done, “companies do not expect to change their external messaging due to the election, other than being even more cautious about potentially divisive topics,” said David Young with The Conference Board.
The Conference Board surveyed business leaders about their plans post-November.
Back in 2021, the group also tracked when — following the Jan. 6 insurrection — about half of the companies surveyed suspended political donations to election deniers. Only 3% percent did so permanently, however.
Several advocacy groups are now working to make it harder for companies to do that kind of backpedaling after this election, with public pledges like the one from the Leadership Now Project.
“We’ve had over 150 leaders across the country sign a statement asking the candidates, federal candidates, to pledge to certify election results,” said Daniella Ballou-Aares, Leadership Now Project’s CEO.
Leadership Now has endorsed Kamala Harris for president, which Ballou-Aares understands may be a bit much for some companies.
“But the vast majority are comfortable, if this election process is undermined, being a voice for the protection of the system and the election process,” she said.
For those companies that would rather just keep their heads down and not say anything, “choosing to stay out of it is viewed by some — by many — to be a choice,” said David Young at The Conference Board. “Inaction is an action.”
And that inaction can also have consequences for a company’s reputation and bottom line, Young added.
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