I lost by 4 votes. And that’s OK

To the editor,

In my recent run for re-election to the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting, I lost by just four votes. My loss was confirmed after Monday's recount. Not a single vote for RTM candidates was miscounted out of the thousands that were cast in my district. That's testament to the diligence, integrity and expertise of registrars Fred DeCaro III, Mary Hegarty, their staff and some 200 poll workers who ran our free and fair election, protecting everyone's freedom to vote.

But I can only imagine the outcry — especially from Republicans (I'm a Democrat) — if I had called Ms. Hegarty and Mr. DeCaro and asked them to find me three votes, all I needed to prevail over the candidate just ahead of me. And their outrage would have been perfectly justified.

So why is it that nearly two-thirds of Republicans, nationally, don't believe former President Donald Trump is guilty of election interference in Georgia, according to an Ipsos survey? After all, he is on record calling the Georgia Secretary of State to ask him “to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.” And that was after three separate ballot counts, all of which put Joe Biden in the lead.

What's interesting is that a Quinnipiac poll found that nine out of 10 Republicans are worried about our democracy being able to function, the same level of concern that Democrats have.

The question, however, is the definition of a functioning democracy. For me, accepting the outcome of free and fair elections is fundamental, just as I did with my narrow loss.

How disappointing that poll after poll reveal that significant majorities of Republicans still believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen, despite a thoroughly documented absence of fraud anywhere in the nation. And that Republicans, despite their concern about our democracy, favor Donald Trump as their candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

At least there's a glimmer of hope. The same Quinnipiac poll reported that a majority of Republicans think convicted felons shouldn't be eligible to serve as president. That is why it is absolutely critical that Trump's federal trial on charges of election conspiracy begins as scheduled on March 4 next year. It appears the fate of American democracy may hang on its outcome.

How disappointing that poll after poll reveal that significant majorities of Republicans still believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen, despite a thoroughly documented absence of fraud anywhere in the nation.