Honest Abe on Cancelling Elections

[pjthompson]

In 1864, when Washington, DC, was within five miles of Confederate
General Jubal Early's attacking troops
(broken link to National Park Service), President Abraham
Lincoln, a Republican, did not even dream of cancelling, or even
postponing, the 1864 elections.

Here's a bit of what Ol' Abe had to say on the subject, taken from
[broken link to National Park Service]:

    "We can not have free government without elections; and if the
    rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election it
    might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us."