Originally published in Deseret News.

Election Day has passed, and the feelings of many can be summed up by the word “relief.” It appears, thankfully, that we will avoid the pitfalls of 2020 — with the losing candidate this year gracefully conceding the election to the winner, rather than denying the official results. This outcome gives us the opportunity to consider the lessons of the 2024 campaign that can help us ensure the peaceful resolution of elections in the future.

Two of those lessons include the importance of: (1) campaigns focusing on substance over voting methods, and (2) voters knowing how to handle the losers.

In his election night analysis, NBC’s Chuck Todd observed that President Donald Trump’s two campaign victories (2016 and 2024) were marked by his not publicly obsessing over the way people vote. This highlights the intersection of good campaign practice and good outcomes for our nation vis-à-vis public trust in voting.

When campaigns focus on and elevate the substance of their candidate — their vision for the nation, state, county or city – they are simultaneously more likely to win and less likely to create a justification for rejecting the result. On the other hand, when campaigns focus on pushing voters to cast their ballot in specific ways, they are more likely to both lose and undermine public confidence in voting.

When the question in a campaign is substance vs. election process, substance wins. It also promotes the vitality and health of our republic.

But there is always a chance that the losing candidate will reject the outcome of the election no matter what. So how should voters handle this type of loser?

First, recognize that accepting a campaign loss is naturally difficult. Campaigns are full of high drama and driven by passionate people. No one wants to admit failure after investing so much energy, time, money and late nights pursuing electoral success. As a colleague of mine succinctly stated without caveat, “Losing a campaign sucks!” While we are accustomed to candidates accepting election outcomes, we can also recognize that is not the intuitive response of human nature.

And yet, meeting that expectation is vital to elections maintaining their constitutional role of demonstrating the sovereignty of the people over our government (i.e., self-government). So why have candidates typically accepted defeat despite the natural impulse not to do so? Because voters demand it of them and have refused — eventually, if not immediately in all cases — to tolerate candidates violating this norm.

In other words, the ultimate source of all political power in America — the people — are the ones who hold the responsibility for strengthening the political habits and practices essential to the vitality of our republic. If we as voters demand that our candidates publicly and proactively affirm the acceptance of election results, whatever they may be, and refuse to vote for candidates who reject this demand, then a peaceful resolution of elections is the most likely outcome.

On the other hand, if voters nominate and elect candidates who openly call into question official election outcomes, then we forward the decline of American democracy no matter who wins. As Benjamin Franklin described our responsibility as free citizens, we have “a republic, if [we] can keep it.”

From this standpoint, there is some understandable concern that voters chose a candidate in President-elect Trump that spent years claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him. But on the other hand, candidate Andrew Jackson made similar claims during his victorious 1828 presidential race about the 1828 presidential campaign that he lost to President John Quincy Adams. Clearly, our nation survived and moved beyond that concerning outcome. If past is prologue, then the peaceful resolution of the 2024 presidential race offers hope that we will do so again.

When candidates and campaigns recognize that their best chance to win is to put substance first, we are more likely to have elections that resolve peacefully. When voters reject candidates who put short-sighted political advantage above their country, our elections will bolster our constitution and strengthen our republic. Together, these things will preserve and renew the blessings of American democracy for ourselves and our children.