Local leader: Groups set to protest if there is post-election trouble.

STAMFORD — A nationwide network of grassroots groups is poised to protest the day after the election if it appears that President Donald Trump is denying or interfering with results, a leader of a local organization said.

The coalition, Protect the Results, will activate the protests if Trump declares victory before Tuesday’s results are clear; if he declares victory despite evidence of election tampering; and if he loses and refuses to leave office, said Michelle Abt of Stamford, a leader of one of the progressive pro-democracy groups that comprise the coalition.

“If that should happen, we will have a rally on Wednesday, most likely at the Stamford Government Center,” said Abt, a member of Indivisible Stamford.

“It would not be a onetime thing. We would continue actions, if needed, until Trump accepts the results of the election.”

Protect the Results is a joint project of Indivisible, a national organization formed in the wake of Trump’s election, and another national group, Stand Up America, which works primarily to increase voter participation. Together they have millions of followers, according to their websites.

The coalition of 150 grassroots groups has been preparing the protests for months, Abt said. It’s because Trump has refused to say whether he would accept the outcome of the election, she said. Trump has alleged that the vote will be tainted by absentee balloting, which has increased dramatically this year to protect against COVID- 19 infection at the polls.

Coalition members point out that Trump has a history of questioning elections. After his 2016 victory, Trump claimed he’d won the popular vote, though it wasn’t true, and since then has mused about being president for 20 years, saying “people would demand that I stay longer,” coalition members say.

The groups will wait to see what the president says this time, Abt said.

“Since we don’t know yet what’s going to happen, we haven’t been advertising about the protests, but already we have more than 200 people,” she said. “If the president pushes us into a constitutional crisis, we will have a lot more than that. People will show up.”

According to the Protect the Results website, more than 40 protests have been registered so far in the

Stamford area. Groups that have joined the coalition include Democracy Matters, Count Every Vote, Move On, People for the American Way, Public Citizen, Women’s March, and Republicans for the Rule of Law.

J.R. Romano, chairman of Connecticut’s Republican Party, said he’s not surprised.

“When have Democrats stopped hitting the streets? They have been resisting since 2016. This isn’t new,” Romano said. “The only entity that has refused to accept election results are Democrats in 2016.”

Trump is right to question mail-in voting, which has escalated to unprecedented numbers, Romano said. Connecticut has struggled to expand absentee balloting to all registered voters because the state usually limits that option, he said.

“Connecticut is not used to absentee balloting at this level. Other states are playing it by ear, too,” Romano said. “To pretend there won’t be issues is naïve, but you don’t see Republicans organizing mass protests like the Democrats are.”

The coalition points to Trump remarks that date to his first campaign for president, when he claimed the election was “rigged” and “millions of people” were voting illegally.

That turned out to be false, Abt said.

“If this president refuses to accept the results of this election, we are in danger of losing our democracy,” she said. “The ask is that every vote is counted and that the true result of this election is honored.”

Groups in the coalition have been undergoing training, she said, and limits have been set to prevent violence. Protect the

Results opposes events that begin after dark or take place where ballots are counted.

“Some of these organizations have been around a long time,” Abt said. “They are providing training in how to de-escalate violent situations, and how to sustain actions beyond the first one.”

Stamford’s first protest is tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m. the day after the election, but it’s far from certain, she said.

“My guess is it won’t happen then because no one will have declared anything by then,” she said. “I could be wrong.”

Romano said he thinks the groups may not wait for “triggers” to take to the streets.

“Want to bet they will feel that way no matter what?” Romano said.

The goal isn’t to protest, Abt said — it’s to ensure an honest election.

“We want a peaceful transition of power,” she said. “We want democracy.”