Should companies speak up if a presidential candidate loses and tries to take power by other means?

I'm David Brancaccio in New York. We've been looking at political polarization at the company level this election.

You're how companies intensify or ease political divides by taking sides, taking stands, and

or bringing us together.

But with voting underway in many states now some advocacy groups

are asking if companies will stay quiet if there were to be attempts to distort

or change the outcome of the election after election day.

Marketplace's Kimberly Adams has more.

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?

Najma Roberts is with the advocacy group Democracy Fund, but she says corporations these days

are a bit risk averse.

People do not want to be cancelled, they don't want their brands to be cancelled, they don't

want to be politically attacked.

And 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.

So once the voting is done, says David Young with the conference board.

...