America Has Held Successful Elections Amid Crises Before.
We Can and Must Do So Again.
As business leaders, we know firsthand that the health of America’s economy and markets rests on the founding principle of our democracy: elections where everyone’s vote is counted.
We are in the midst of a pandemic that has caused great hardship for Americans in the form of lost lives and livelihoods. We must now come together to ensure that the pandemic does not cause even greater damage by threatening the integrity of our election.
Whether a vote is cast at an early voting location, by mail from a military base or by an individual avoiding COVID-19 exposure, or on election day at a local polling place, Americans must have confidence their vote will be counted and that the media will be cautious, patient, and thorough in their reporting of the results. The alternative - election results that are inaccurately or prematurely reported - would pose significant risks to business and markets in an already fragile economic environment.
We are proud of the business community’s record of supporting civic participation, and pledge our support for these principles:
Elected leaders and election officials should count every vote and encourage civility while awaiting election results. In many states, the law requires processing ballots received a week or more after election day, and in all states election officials will need time to process a larger than typical number of absentee ballots
The media, which play a critical role in our democracy, must take caution to use its voice responsibly and avoid calling the election before sufficient data are available
Business leaders should promote patience, civility, security, and accurate information for our employees, communities, and the American people during the election and in its aftermath
America has successfully held elections through previous challenges, like the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the 1918 flu pandemic. Now, it is our turn.
Read our press release on the Business Statement on the Election, released October 14, here
America's business community is unified in calling for patience and civility during this election. America’s largest industry associations, including the US Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and National Manufacturers Association, issued a similar statement, noting that the “strength of our nation’s democracy depends on the integrity and fairness of our elections.” Also this week, 800+ CEOs joined in making a call for patience while all votes are counted in the Civic Alliance’s 100% In for Democracy campaign. Additionally, A group of 800+ business school professors have signed an open letter penned by HBS Professor and Leadership Now Academic Advisor Deepak Malhotra: “It’s Time for America’s Business Leaders to Speak Out Against the Threat Trump Poses to Our Republic,”
SIGNATORIES
Finance:
Eddie Fishman, Managing Director, DE Shaw; Seth Klarman, CEO, The Baupost Group; Alan Patricof, Chairman, Primetime Partners; Neil Malik, CEO, K1 Investment Management; Lisa Blau, Founding Partner, _able; Charles Ledley, Managing Partner, Liminality Capital; Kevin Brennan, Head of Investment Analytics, Bridgewater Associates; Abby Miller Levy, Managing Partner and Founder, Primetime Partners; Jeffrey C. Walker, Chairman, Walker Family Foundation, and former CEO JPMorgan Capital, and Vice Chairman, JPMorgan; Patrick McGinnis, Managing Partner, Dirigo Advisors; Georgie Benardete, CEO, Align17; John Jaggers, Former Managing General Partner, Sevin Rosen Funds; Tricia Glynn, Partner, Advent International; Warren Valdmanis, Partner, Two Sigma Impact; Jigar Shah, co-founder, Generate Capital; Nicholas Beim, Partner, Venrock; Anne Finucane, Vice Chairman, Bank of America; Steven Rattner; CEO, Willett Advisors LLC; David Ryan, Liquidity Energy LLC; Matt Sirovich, Partner, Scopia Capital; Scott Kalb, CEO, KLTI Advisors; Mitchell S Fried, Senior Wealth Advisor, Belpointe Wealth Management; John J. Pinto, CEO, SOJE Capital LLC; Jeffrey Howell, Market Strategist, TalonAlgo; Courtney Leimkuhler, Partner, Springbank Collective; Lara Druyan, Partner, Silicon Valley Data Capital; Howard Fischer, CEO, Basso Capital; Robert Brown, Partner, Atlas Impact Partners; Thomas Knowles, CEO, Gratitude Railroad; Peter Muller, CEO, PDT Partners; C. Tripp Baird, CEO, The Builders Fund; Dale Mathias, Partner, Innovation Partners Africa; Sonny Hong, Executive, Soho Global; Rex E. Pingle, CEO, PMD International, Inc; David Teten, CEO, S.O.P. Ventures; Jacqueline Higgins, Swiss Re; Erick Goralski, Founder, Reimagine Capital Partners; Miachiels Machiels, Founding Managing Partner, CoLift; Rosina Giuliante, Investor & Advisor; Michael Nolan, Janney Montgomery Scott; Kevin M. Lalande, Founding Managing Director, Santé; Kerry Kourepenos, Partner, Hitchwood Capital Management; Jeffrey H. Aronson, CEO, Centerbridge Partners; Nigel Morris, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, QED Investors; Mark Dufilho, Managing Director, Houlihan Lokey; John McEvoy, Partner, Tribeca Early Stage Partners; Brian Kreiter, COO, Bridgewater Associates; Andrew Dumont, CEO, Curious Capital; Taneka Lawrence, Executive, Polen; Mina Pacheco Nazemi, Managing Director, Barings; David Levi, Managing Partner, Brookfield Asset Management; PV Boccassam, CEO, WealthEngine; Pilar Urrego, Merrill; Harry Taylor, Partner, TA Associates; Erin Allard, COO, Bloom Credit; Cedomir Crnkovic, Executive, D.E. Shaw & Co; Susan Hendrie-Marais, Trader; Martin Aares, Partner, Closed Loop Partners; Katherine Venice, CEO, The Ethical Capitalism Group; Robert Glanville, Partner, REG Consulting LLC; Dianna Raedle, CEO, Deer Isle Group; Jeffrey Greendorfer, CEO, Stratford Associates, LLC; Geeta Aiyer, President, Boston Common Asset Management, LLC.
Tech/Media:
Reid Hoffman, Partner Greylock and Co-Founder, LinkedIn; Lisa Lewin, CEO General Assembly; Marissa Mayer, co-founder Lumi Labs; Rob Bernshteyn, CEO, Coupa; Rob Marcus, Former Chairman & CEO, Time Warner Cable Inc.; Konrad Feldman, Co-founder & CEO, Quantcast; Tristan Mace, CEO, parkermace; Brian Stafford, CEO, Diligent Corporation; Leonel Azuela, CEO, Quaxar; Stacy Brown-Philpot, CEO, TaskRabbit; Zander Lurie, CEO, SurveyMonkey; Simon Allen, CEO, McGraw Hill; Julie Bornstein, CEO, The Yes; Josh Silverman, CEO, Etsy; Laxmi Wordham, Co-Founder, Hylonome; Amanda Holland, OpenTable; Bart Myers, CEO, Countable; Sandra Turner; Manish Kothari, Executive, Edmodo; Chava Kallberg, VP, Development, Sesame Workshop; Karim Morgan Nehdi, CEO, Herrmann; Sandra Shpillberg, CEO, Adnexi; Gail Moody-Byrd, Executive, Noodle.ai; Diego Saez Gil, CEO, Pachama; Bob Guccione Jr., CEO, Wonderlust Travel; Richard Anderson; Quintin D Anderson, COO, Granite River Labs; Marc Baghadjian, CEO, Skippit; Ninan Chacko, Senior Advisor, McKinsey; Scott Garrell, CEO, Garrell Consulting; Frank Williams, Executive Chairman, Evolent Health; Michelle Crames, CEO, Pogo.io; David Jastrow, Director, Elsevier; Janice McNair, CFO, EZ Texting; Lekshmi Venu, CEO, MajorBoost; Megan O’Connor, CEO, Clark; Jed Lenzer; Brian Czarny, CMO, SecureAuth; Andrew Patterson, CEO, Thermal; Todd Owens, CEO, Kevala Technologies, Inc; Matt Heckman, Deputy General Counsel, Quantcast; Scott Howard, Executive, Share Ventures; Anand Gandhi, CFO, Skillshare; Ramdas Hegde, Cisco Systems; Vic Baukunoff, CEO, SportVEST; Trent Hein, CEO, Rule4; Abhishek Mishra, Executive, Nexelus; Miguel Molina-Consculluela, CEO, Analytikus; Julian Porras, CEO, Latin America, Omnicom; Meshal Lakhani, CEO, Lola Media; Kaylah Horton, CEO, Kaylah Denae; Andres Duarte, CEO, DBC Capital; Marisa Freeden, Executive, Broadvoice; James Murphy, CEO, Broadvoice; Rebecca M Rosen, Executive, Broadvoice; George Mitsopoulos, Executive, Broadvoice; Jerry Brennan, Move, Inc.; Tim Enwall, CEO, Misty Robotics, Inc.; Lauren Wetzel, Executive, Infosum; William Hall, Executive, T2MED.AI; Fernando Alarcon, Partner, Detexian; Evan Hindman, Crown Castle International; Brian Greminger, CEO, HoneyCreek Video; Herb Pyles, COO, Broadvoice; Field Garthwaite, CEO, IRIS.TV; Admiral John W. Flores, Author; April Guidone, Executive, Endeavor; Rupal Parekh, Partner, Work & Co; Neal Weinstock, CEO, Soliddd Corp; Mike Biglan, CEO, Twenty Ideas; Timothy Sheehy, Executive, PK Global, Inc; Donna Freidman Meir, CEO, WOW Explorations; Eric Heneghan, CEO, Black and Yellow Gold; Ben Levi, COO, InCloudCounsel; Brook Wurst, CEO, Remote Harbor;
Consumer:
Jerry Greenfield, Co-Founder, Ben and Jerry’s; Ben Cohen, Co-Founder, Ben and Jerry’s; Daniel Lubetzky, Founder and Executive Chairman, KIND Snacks; Sarah Kauss, Founder and Executive Chairwoman, S'well; Joel Poznansky, Chairman, Columbia Books & Information Services, and President, Wicked Uncle USA; John Pleasants, CEO, Brava; Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia; Chris Ruder, CEO, Spikeball; Susan Correa, CEO, Art and Eden P.B.C; Katherine Cousins, Executive, VF Corporation; Tracy Allery, Nestle USA; Ryan Tu, Chairman, Valley Fine Foods; Hank Adams, CEO, Rise Gardens; Ajay Prakash, CEO, Rinse; Jenn Swain, Burton Snowboards; Olivia vonNieda, CEO, Jova Coffee Company; Hannah Marmorine, General Mills; William Scott Kucirek, CEO, OCHO Candy; David Gray, CEO, GreenSeed; Matthew McCarthy, CEO, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc; Amy Bieberdorf, COO, Red Barn Dog Holdings; Mark Luck Olson, CEO, RecoveryOne; Maxine Phillips, Phillips Foods, Inc; Ralph Hersom, CEO, Ralph’s Hingham Wine Merchant; Kara Goldin, CEO, Hint, Inc; Ben Kovler, CEO, Green Thumb; Ben Mand, CEO, Harmless Harvest.
Real Estate:
Amar Lalvani, CEO, Standard Hotels; Jason Pomeranc, CEO, Sixty Hotels; Bess Freedman, CEO, Brown Harris Stevens; Craig Robinson, Former Global Head, Powered by We, WeWork; David Von Spreckelsen, President, Toll Brothers City Living; Joshua M. Wyatt, CEO, NeueHouse; Brad Wilson, President, Ace Hotels; Lawrence Wollin, CEO, Care.Properties; Joshua Benaim, CEO, Aria Development Group; Jack Troedson, Executive, Newmark; Darius Ross, CEO, D Alexander Ross Real Estate Capital Partners Interest LLC; Ellis G. Guiles, CEO, Graboyes Commercial Window and Glass Solutions.
Other Industries:
Michael Porter, Strategist and Professor, Harvard Business School; Anoop Prakash, President, REV Ambulance Group; Leo Sprecher, President, Budd Foods; Christopher Riley, CEO, Guzman Energy; Kartik Shah, co-Founder and Board Member, Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc; Ravi Chatwani, co-CEO, Prosum; Bill Veghte, CEO, Athene Partners; Neal Wolin, CEO, Brunswick Group; James Rubin, CEO, Meridiam NA; Paul Stinavage, Pfizer; Robert Feinstein; David J. Berger, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; Michael Otten, CEO, Reform Elections Now; Amy Egan, CEO, Modern Rebel; Christine Dunbar, Executive, Globalfoundries; Jay M Tannon, Co-Managing Partner, American Infrastructure Holdings LLC; Rob McDaniel, CEO, MetrixIQ; Wallace B. Cole, CEO, BlueSel Home Solar Inc; Matt Goldman, Vice-Chair, Blue School; Christopher Smith, Partner, SER Capital Partners; Jim Wiesenberg, Executive, Space Data; Mia Mends, Chief Administrative Officer, Sodexo; John Dutton, Executive, World Economic Forum; Gonzalo Checa, Executive, Delaware North; James Felix Cook, Executive, Candela Renewables; Eric Meger, CEO, Maerospace Corp; Jennifer Gordon, OneCareVermont; Luc Imberechts, CEO, Bakon USA Food Equipment; Jennifer Nichols; Managing Member, GreenWeaver Landscapes; Nat Pernick, M.D., CEO, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc; Tim Kunin, CEO, GreaterGood.com; Chris Garvey; Ellen Eissler; Ben Seidman, CEO, Amazing Things Inc; Jayne Greenberg; CEO, Just Jayne Events; Leslie Sobel; Tanveer Kathawalla, CEO, Pioneer1890; Kahlil Byrd, CEO, Invest America; Pete Zheng, Facebook; Irina Zavina, Partner, Arcadia Mountain Holdings; Marie-Jose Bahnam; Abigail Falik, CEO, Global Citizen Year; Trinidad Grange-Kyner, Vice President, Tufts Healthplan; Ryan Baldwin, Amazon; Eric Spindt, President and Managing Partner, Commonwealth Financial Group; Peter Brack, Partner, Hypothesis Ventures; Jieho Lee, Managing Partner, Knighted Ventures; Ganesh Natarajan, CEO, Mindcrest Inc.; Dwayne Nesmith, CEO, Merita; Mairin Macaluso, Executive, The Leadership Now Project; Kim Coupounas, Executive, B Lab; Monica Winters, Owner, Monica Winters, CPA; Elizabeth Talerman, CEO, The Nucleus Group; Phillip Jones, Harvard Business School; Sampriti Ganguli, CEO, Arabella Advisors; Dr. Luis Alvarado, CEO, Leaderland; Eileen Shy, Partner, Bain & Co; Eric Friedman, CEO, Building The Machine, Inc; Catherine Sartin, Surgical Care Affiliates; Barry LaBov, CEO, LABOV Marketing and Training; Shlomy Kattan; Barry Horwitz, CEO, Horwitz & Co LLC; Michael Connelly, CEO, TecGeo; Ashley Bowling, Partner, Grasp Global; Antoinette Govan, CEO, Antoinette Govan CPA; Elisa Jagerson, Executive, Speck Design; Art and Lindsay Reimers, Partner, Morlind Impact Partners; Jenna Ben-Yehuda, CEO, Truman National Security; Jennifer Borggaard, Partner, AlderBrook Advisors; Alexandre Tissot Demidoff, Executive, International Demidoff Foundation; Corey Hajim, Curator, TED Conferences; Dina Coker, CEO, Blink; Matt Hughes, CEO, Cardinal Strategies; Mary Jo Meisner, CEO, MJM Advisory Services; Erik Pickering, CEO, Tracers; Nicholas Papoulias, Executive, NEFILIM Associates LLC; James Chamness, CEO, Peregrine; Pete Vogel, Director, AlignAlytics; Jennifer Simpson, Executive, The Aspen Institute; Candace Mae Gruber, CEO, Candace Mae Training and Services; Anthony Michael Sarkis, Jr., CEO, Visionary Solutions Consulting, LLC.; Bill Muras, Executive, Alytic, Inc.; Jodeen Olguín-Tayler, Partner, Center for New Gravity; María-Teresa Velasco, Co-Founder, LondonTownMedia Inc; Janice L Wymore, CEO, Zenth Technology Consultant; Lee Newman, CEO, MullenLowe; Neil Sahota, CEO, Ackius Advisory; Stephen Elliot, CEO, Boggy Creek Advisors; Claudine Beron, CEO, Initiate Government Solutions; Mike Cully, Executive Director, League of Oregon Cities; Angela Topacio-DiDio, Partner, Gyro Creative Group; Jennifer Barron, Partner, Deloitte; Susan McPherson, CEO, McPherson Strategies; Jon Pritikin; Cindy Salans Rosenheim; Owner, Cindy Salans Rosenheim Illustration; Anne Pinsker, SF Symphony; Mary Kay Benson, 350 Butte County; Leslie Sobel; David Bloom, CEO, Factotem; Trevor Tomkins, CEO, Venture Dairy Enterprises LLC; William P. Bryan, III, Partner, The Law Offices of William P. Bryan, III; Allison Bloom, CEO, Dehn Bloom Design; Ellen Eissler; Arthur Hargate, CFO, Art 4 Art, Inc; Michael Ditmore, CEO, The Novim Group; Elizabeth Doty, CEO, Leadership Momentum; Claudia Garber, Director, REV Group, Inc - Ambulance Division; Bennett Freeman, CEO, Bennett Freeman Associates LLC; Sudhir Rao; Katherine M Flood, President/Owner, Marketing 360; Christina Lewis, Founder, All Star Code; Cheryl Graeve, National Organizer, NICD; Jeff Clements, CEO, American Promise; Susan Muller, Executive, American Promise; Stephen Alexander, CEO, A Couple of Guides; Jessica Parisi, CEO, BTS USA; James Lu Morrissey; COO, Mentor Collective; Gabriella Willenz; Randy Lange, Partner, Firebird AST; Becky Dolsn, CEO, Janus MedTech Consulting, LLC; William Koehler, Executive, Regis College; Rodney Moore, CEO, Moore Consulting Group; Lori Mitchell, CEO, Black Women in Technology; Dr. James Brancato, Professor, Cedar Crest College; Lisa Oglesby Hamilton, Division Chief, County of Los Angeles; Melvin Gray, Graycor Companies; Scott Urbanowski, Owner, Humanoid Digital; Charles Cassidy, CEO, CTCassidy, LLC; Julian Flannery, CEO, Summus Global; Claire Broido Johnson, CEO, CBJ Energy; Anthony Biglan, CEO, The Nuture Network; Barbara Hayes, Principal + Founder, Integrated Insights Consulting; Will Spero, CEO, Mailers Haven, LLC; Audrey M Martin, Owner, Psychotherapy Private Practice; Dr. Angie McAllister, Executive, Anti-Defamation League; Anton McBurnie, CEO, CoSuccess Consulting Inc; Gretchen Phillips, Executive, Omidyar Network; Michael Denton, CEO Redefine Strength and Fitness LLC; Hunter I Riley, CEO, Schlep; Sven Lynch, CEO, Pittsburgh Concierge Therapy; Gabriela Hearst, Partner, Gabriela Hearst LLC; Jerome Tagger, CEO, Preventable Surprises, Inc; Daren Bascome, CEO, Proverb; Susan Muller, Executive, American Promise; Daniel M Guill, COO, Enlivant; Teri Riddle, CEO, The Crossland Group Ltd; Megan Mayhugh, CEO, Kenlin Advisors; Kathleen Yazbak, CEO, Viewcrest Advisors; Cecilia Marihart, Independent Advisor.