Election is over. Time to take down Trump flags.

Maybe we’re numb after four years of dealing with an abusive president who makes policy through late night Tweets and treats opponents as fodder for derision, but there seems to be a lack of awareness over just how close we came in this election to witnessing the undoing of American democracy.

Unhappy with being a loser — a term that for Donald Trump is the ultimate insult — the president has filed lawsuits, tried to bully lawmakers and spun one lie after another in an effort to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

For now, at least, it looks like Democracy and the principle of self-determination have prevailed. The Supreme Court swiftly rebuffed an effort to challenge the results in key battleground states. Republican lawmakers in states Biden carried rejected the president’s efforts to have them override the will of the people and appoint electors who would have voted for Trump. When the Electoral College voted for Biden on Dec. 14 a, even longtime Trump ally Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell came around.

But we have learned two lessons over the last several weeks — lessons that demand action.

First, our democracy is far more fragile than we are willing to admit. What if Biden’s win had been sealed by one key state instead of four? All Trump might have needed in that case was a Republican legislature willing to ignore their constitutional obligation. Or the right judge in the right place. Or a key election official willing to put party before country. Trump tried to weaponize the safeguards that are supposed to assure a fair election and stage a coup from within the White House. It didn’t work, but it could have.

Second, there are way more people out there willing to trade freedom for power than you might have thought possible. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence that there was no widespread or systemic fraud, Republicans across the country lined up and parroted Trump’s lies. More than 100 Republicans in the U.S. House endorsed the Texas lawsuit that sought to undercut the results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin. Here in Connecticut, GOP party chair J.R. Romano dodged the Trump question on several occasions, saying he was more interested in talking about the local issues affecting Connecticut voters.

The whole concept of American democracy is built on the principle that we get to choose who represents our interests. To safeguard our Democracy — and prevent a repeat of 2020 — there are a number of steps that need to be taken here in Connecticut.

The state remains one of the few without early voting. That needs to change. The pandemic pointed up the weaknesses in our current system. And while state election officials pivoted quickly to change the rules for absentee ballots, a thorough examination of the entire election process must be undertaken soon.

Next, it is time for a hard look at how the Electoral College operates. The state-bystate winner-take-all approach serves to disenfranchise too many voters and, as we saw in 2016, the current system allows for someone who wins the popular vote to lose the presidency. There is a range of options for reform. Connecticut should lead that conversation.

Finally, it’s time for the election to be over. Trump’s continuing tirade against the election is destructive, both to the fabric of our Democracy and to America’s standing in the world. You can help. Its time to take your Trump flag down.