Submitted by Jonathan Perloe (RTM District 8), Dan Edelstein, Mary Ellen Markowitz, Anthony Moor (RTM District 7) and David Snyder (RTM District 6)
As residents concerned about our democracy, including here in Greenwich, we started a petition calling on First Selectman Camillo to follow normal Town procedures and accept the $500,000 grant awarded by the nonpartisan Center for Tech and Civic Life to our Registrars of Voters which was approved 104-101 by the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting (RTM). The grant, to be used at the sole discretion of the Town, is to enhance election administration, infrastructure and education. So far 352 Greenwich residents have signed the petition.
Others are encouraged to add their names if they feel similarly.
The First Selectman has conditioned his acceptance of the grant on how the RTM resolves unfounded claims of voting irregularities brought forth by opponents of the grant. We believe this is unacceptable; the Town charter does not give him veto power over RTM votes.
RTM Moderator Alexis Voulgaris participated in an exhaustive review of the proceedings and reported that the “electronic voting system has no flaws or defects.” She announced that the vote tally on Item 10 to accept the grant was the “final vote.”
While there is a parliamentary procedure that can be taken up at an RTM meeting to rescind previously taken votes, Greenwich will become ungovernable if Town officials do not enforce decisions passed by the RTM whenever the losing side claims “irregularities” and seeks to reverse the vote.
The actions of the RTM faction working to overturn the vote are straight out of former president Trump’s 2020 election denialism playbook. They are using unfounded claims of voting irregularities, contradicted by all the evidence, to call into question the outcome of a fair, secure and accurately reported vote that represents the will of the Town’s democratically elected RTM.
None of the other votes using the electronic voting system at the December and January RTM meetings have been called into question, including the vote that was taken just minutes before the vote to accept the grant to “call the question.”
It matters not that there may be ways to improve RTM voting procedures. Election processes are continually enhanced over time to lessen user error. But that doesn’t mean previously passed votes, regardless of how close they were, should be subject to repeal. Rather than succumbing to “stop the steal”-type tactics, Mr. Camillo needs to safeguard our Town from those who challenge vote outcomes that don’t go their way.
The irony of the situation is that the primary objection made by those opposed to accepting the grant is that it would cause voters to question election integrity due to erroneous claims that the grant could be used to subvert our elections. Yet after losing the vote, they promptly attacked the integrity of the vote, falsely claiming “bugs and glitches” in the new electronic voting system and asserting that even if the vote was accurate, a do-over is needed to reassure residents everything was on the up and up (ignoring the findings that the voting system performed as designed).
The best way to ensure faith in our democracy is to respect the outcome of free and fair votes. We cannot tolerate groups and individuals who intentionally sow mistrust in our representative democracy when votes don’t go their way. First Selectman Camillo should stand by the decisions made by the RTM and its moderator, and promptly process the grant. If you feel the same, please add your name to our petition. It will be delivered to the First Selectman shortly.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Perloe (RTM District 8), Dan Edelstein, Mary Ellen Markowitz, Anthony Moor (RTM District 7) and David Snyder (RTM District 6)