Over seven million more people chose the other candidate. Only 46.9 percent of voters cast their ballots for you. Refuse to accept this result in the days, weeks and years following the election. Two months after the contest ends, call an election official and say you need him to find you 11,780 votes. Gather your supporters on the day the election results are being certified—tell them how you have been robbed and urge them to fight. Do nothing as they erupt in violence immediately thereafter.
Waste lots of taxpayers’ money and time recounting ballots (in many instances by hand) to make absolutely certain that you did not win. Have one of your most reliable media supporters make baseless claims about the voting machines, an erroneous accusation that ultimately results in them paying a $787 million legal settlement to the company that manufactures the devices. No matter what the evidence repeatedly confirms, keep insisting for years that you won the election.
Enter the next race a few years later. This time, over two million more people vote for you instead of your opponent. You win. But still keep declaring that you were wronged in the election that preceded this one. A year into your term, with so much else that requires serious leadership, have your administration seize and resurrect ballots from more than five years prior to try to prove that the election was rigged against you.
Pre-emptively cast doubt on an election later that year in which you are not a candidate, and acknowledge that the outcome has potentially negative implications for the remainder of your presidency. Say explicitly that if the other party becomes the majority following that election, they will impeach you. Do all you can to ensure that is not the electoral outcome. Use “the big lie” that you have clung to for all these years—maybe it will finally be disproven and work for you this time.
When you lose an election, never accept the results. Pout. Keep saying you won. Ignore all the proof that consistently shows you were not the winner. Totally disregard what elections officials, lawyers and judges say. This is the lesson to students in America’s K–12 schools, colleges and universities. They are being taught that elections are only fair and legitimate if they win.
As it turns out, I have quite a bit of experience in elections. Here are the outcomes of contests in which I have been a candidate:
ElectionOutcomeDouglass Middle School Student Council PresidentWonThomasville High School Student Council PresidentLostAlbany State College Freshman Class Vice PresidentWonAlbany State College Sophomore Class PresidentWonWiley Residence Hall PresidentWonKappa Alpha Psi—Delta Xi Chapter Polemarch (President)WonAlbany State University Student Government Association Vice PresidentWonAlbany State University Student Government Association PresidentWonAssociation of College Unions International Board of Trustees Student MemberWonAssociation for the Study of Higher Education Board of DirectorsWonAmerican Educational Research Association Council Member at LargeWonAssociation for the Study of Higher Education PresidentWonAmerican Educational Research Association PresidentWon
Accordingly, I have lost only one election. But had I been unsuccessful in more of them, I am certain that I would have had enough integrity, maturity (even as an eighth grader) and dignity to accept the results unless there was clear evidence of election fraud.
Noteworthy is that more than 60 percent of these were student contests, when I was a much younger leader. The message from my teachers, professors, club advisers and campus administrators was always the same to the other candidates and me: One of you will win, losing does not make the others losers, but regardless, we must all accept the election results. That had always been the lesson and the postelection norms in my schools. Similarly, coaches advise young athletes to be good sports and accept the results of athletic contests when their opponents win.
Hopefully, good educators are still communicating this same message to candidates and voters in student government, homecoming king, prom queen and other contests. Furthermore, I hope that the K–12 teachers and college professors of the next generation of city council members, mayors, state legislators, governors, congresspersons and U.S. presidents are insisting that they not cry foul without evidence if they someday lose elections. Unfortunately, young Americans are being taught a very different lesson from their current president, which undermines and threatens the future of our democracy.
Shaun Harper is University Professor and Provost Professor of Education, Business and Public Policy at the University of Southern California, where he holds the Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership. His most recent book is titled Let’s Talk About DEI: Productive Disagreements About America’s Most Polarizing Topics.
