Temple Professor Weighs In On Trump's Debate Comments

by Hadas Kuznits

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Many people are talking about Donald Trump's debate comments from Wednesday night, in which he would leave people "in suspense" about whether he would accept the results of November's election.

Robin Kolodny, chair of the political science department at Temple University, says one of the main markers of a true democracy is the peaceful transfer of power.

She says absence of this basic concept can threaten the political structure.

"There have been famous incidents, like in Ukraine with the Orange Revolution, where the denial of valid elections results has led to the overthrow of the government," said Kolodny.

She also said insinuating that the system might be rigged against a candidate undermines the entire foundation of the political system.

"The thing I think he loses sight of is that the way that our electoral system is set up, is that there is no national ballot. What we have are 50 separate state electoral systems," Kolodny said.

Kolodny says the now infamous Bush - Gore recount took place in one county in one state.

"Because of what happened in Florida in 2000, we got a new law, called HAVA. The Help America Vote Act," Kolodny explained.

Since then, voting systems have been improved.

"So, the biggest relevant point here is that every state has to have an election system or a polling procedure that's consistent across the states, so that there can be a meaningful recount," said Kolodny.

And while Kolodny doesn't believe that American democracy will crumble in November:

"What he's essentially saying is, If I don't win, it's probably rigged."