ASBN Endorses Carter Center Principles

About the Carter Center

The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady, Rosalynn Carter. For decades, the Center has worked outside the U.S. to strengthen democracy, resolve armed conflicts, and fight disease.  Recently the Center launched a new stream of work dedicated to strengthening U.S. democracy and stability, seeking to connect community leaders on both sides of the aisle to support democratic and civic norms in future elections. 

To that end, the Carter Center has developed principles for adherence to democratic and civic values in our local, state, and national elections.  The Carter Center is seeking endorsers for these five basic principles and norms of democracy from candidates, business leaders, and grassroots organizations.

About the Principles

The Carter Center I respect the checks and balances defined in the United States Constitution, and I support the electoral processes that protect the freedoms, liberties, and opportunities assured by our democratic institutions and norms. Elections must be conducted according to the rule of law – in a transparent, unbiased, and secure process. As a candidate, I am guided by the following principles:

1. Honest process: Cooperate with election officials, adhere to rules and regulations, and refrain from knowingly propagating falsehoods about the electoral process.
2. Civil campaign: Encourage a peaceful election atmosphere during the pre-election, polling, counting, and post-election periods. Denounce any attempt to intimidate, harass, threaten or incite violence against opponents, their supporters, and election workers.
3. Secure voting: Respect voters’ freedom to exercise their lawful rights to register and vote, free from interference, obstruction, or intimidation.
4. Fair oversight: Encourage political parties and others to train poll-watchers on the election process and appropriate roles and behaviors, responsibilities, and obligations.
5. Trusted outcomes: Make claims of election irregularities in accordance with the law and acknowledge the legitimacy of the outcomes after the results have been certified and all contestations decided. 

ASBN Endorses Conclusion

The American Sustainable Business Network is proud to endorse these five principles and asks others to do so also.