In November 2022, two county supervisors in Cochise County, Arizona, refused to certify their midterm results by the legal deadline, citing concerns about voting machines that state and federal officials said were unfounded. It took a court order to make sure those votes counted.
Most Americans never heard about it. The fight over an election’s legitimacy rarely happens on election night. It happens in the quiet weeks afterward, in canvass meetings and court rooms most voters never see.
By Tuesday, millions of Americans will have cast their ballots, and by the next morning most will assume the election is over. But it isn’t. Election-night returns are unofficial, and results won’t be certified until weeks after, for example November 23 in Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Risks exist in the weeks after — the time between the election and the certification.
That window opens at a time of declining confidence. Just 55 percent of Americans say they’re confident this election will be fair and accurate, the lowest share in the past four election cycles, according to the Pew Research Center.
Low trust won’t decide who wins, but it can decide whether Americans believe the result.
For businesses, this isn’t abstract. Uncertainty over who holds power means market volatility, stalled decisions, and anxious employees and customers. The rule of law and reliable government processes are among America’s greatest competitive advantages — the foundation investors count on. A disputed certification puts both on the line.
Let me start with the good news, because it often gets lost: American elections are safe, secure, and accurate — backed by paper ballots, bipartisan oversight, post-election audits, and judicial review. Even when ballots are counted a second time, the results hold: of more than 7,400 statewide general elections since 2000, only three recounts changed the outcome, and each was decided by a razor-thin margin.
And certification isn’t a moment for local officials to decide whether they like the outcome. Courts have long reinforced that it is a mandatory duty, carried out by statutory deadlines. Cochise County learned that the hard way.
But the pressure on that system is greater than it has been in years. Funding for election security has been cut. The federal government is asserting authority over elections the Constitution leaves to the states. In California, election officials have been threatened with prosecution — and even jail — if they count roughly 20,000 ballots the Justice Department flagged as potentially ineligible. In Wisconsin, FBI agents have sought to meet with public officials after hours at their homes. A single county that drags its feet can force emergency litigation and burn through critical deadlines, injecting uncertainty into a close race even when the courts ultimately set things right.
The guardrails are strong, but they aren’t automatic. And even when they hold, Americans’ trust in the results is another matter.
Courts can compel certification, but they can’t compel confidence.
Legitimacy is built by trusted voices, and in a low-trust era, business leaders are among the most trusted messengers we have. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer finds that people’s own employer is now their most trusted institution — trusted by 78 percent of employees, 25 points ahead of government.
That trust matters, especially now.
We’ve seen what business can do. In 2023, Wisconsin’s state Senate voted to fire Meagan Wolfe, the state’s respected nonpartisan elections administrator. Wisconsin business leaders, together with Leadership Now, filed amicus briefs defending her, and in 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously ruled that she could stay. Employers who know their election officials, their communities, and their workforce can play that same steadying role—reinforcing the process, not picking a side.
Through Leadership Now, business leaders across the country are already showing what business leadership looks like. Our Arizona chapter brought together more than 60 CEOs to sign a statement affirming that free and secure elections are an economic imperative. In Ohio, more than 50 Republican, Independent, and Democratic leaders in our network signed a statement defending institutional stability. And in Wisconsin, our members have asked gubernatorial candidates to pledge to accept the results for the third election cycle in a row and publicly backed election officials after the FBI visits.
Whatever our politics, we all share a stake in elections that are safe, accessible, and accurate — with results Americans can trust.
You don’t need to live in a battleground state or run a company to make a difference. Here’s where to start:
Reinforce confidence in the process. Share how elections actually work — paper ballots, audits, bipartisan oversight—and point people to official sources, such as state and local election offices, for results and updates.
Encourage patience. Remind employees, customers, and your community that counting takes time, election night results are unofficial, and a careful count is a sign the system is working.
Thank the people administering the elections. Amplify updates from your local election officials and publicly recognize the election workers doing this job, often under real pressure.
Know the calendar. Find out when your county canvasses and when your state certifies. In Michigan, county boards must finish by November 17; in Arizona, by November 19.
Be ready to stand up for certification. Connect with fellow business leaders now and draft a short statement affirming that certification is a legal duty, not a choice. Agree in advance to issue it if certification is delayed or challenged.
Want to do more? Leadership Now’s Election Protection Hub has resources and guidance for the weeks ahead.
Amid it all, I am hopeful. The conditions for a contested election may be in place, but so is the infrastructure to manage it. Election officials, attorneys general, and legal organizations have spent months preparing. So have business leaders in states across the country.
And when the certification window closes, the work continues. Protecting our elections is only half the job; we also have to build. This year, Leadership Now launched the Business Plan for America — a practical agenda for a more competitive economy, broad-based prosperity, and a government that earns the trust of the people it serves. We’ll work with leaders of both parties in Washington and in statehouses to turn these ideas into action and deliver the results Americans demand.
The votes will be counted. What we build after that is up to us.
Daniella Ballou-Aares is the CEO and founder of the Leadership Now Project, a membership organization of business leaders committed to protecting democracy as a foundation for a thriving economy and political stability. Find Daniella Ballou-Aares on Substack here and the Leadership Now Project here.
Once certified, if there are no contests on who won any of the races, the next thing is having the new Congress seated by the Speaker. That remains to be seen the way this regime operates.
Thank you for writing this wonderful, thoughtful piece! One day before Election Day, it calmed some nerves, and brought clarity and sharpened focus to my perspective!