This petition, started by a group of Greenwich residents, calls on the First Selectman of Greenwich to follow normal Town procedures and accept a grant of $500,000 awarded by the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) to our Registrars of Voters and approved 104-101 by the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting (RTM) on January 17.

Anyone can sign, but if you're a resident of Greenwich, be sure your town and zip code are entered correctly so that we can demonstrate local support.

The mission of the CTCL is nonpartisan: “to connect Americans with the information they need to become and remain civically engaged, and ensure that our elections are more professional, inclusive, and secure.” The CTCL offered the grant in recognition of Greenwich being named a Center for Election Excellence by the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, a collaboration between CTCL and other organizations committed to strengthening our democracy.

However, in a Jan. 20 statement to members of the RTM, First Selectman Fred Camillo announced that he will not accept the $500,000 grant until unfounded claims of voting irregularities brought forth by opponents of the grant have been resolved by the RTM. The 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.” 

Our Town charter does not give the First Selectman veto power over RTM votes. Mr. Camillo needs to reverse his decision and accept the grant. 

While there is a parliamentary procedure that can be taken up at the next RTM meeting to rescind the vote to accept the grant, Greenwich will become ungovernable if Town officials do not enforce decisions passed by a majority of the RTM whenever the losing side claims “irregularities” and seeks to reverse the vote. 

The actions of the far-right faction of the RTM working to overturn the vote are straight out of the playbook of Trump’s 2020 election denialism. 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 taken just minutes before the vote to accept the grant to “call the question.”

Rather than succumbing to “stop the steal”-type tactics, First Selectman 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 the integrity of our elections. Yet after losing the vote, they promptly attacked the integrity of the vote, 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 opposition claims the CTCL is a progressive plot to influence elections and get access to confidential voter data. There is no truth to the charges. The Anti-Defamation League labeled the accusations against CTCL one of the leading false narratives of the 2022 midterm elections. Both the Republican and Democratic registrars spoke in favor of accepting the grant, and have answered numerous questions to allay legitimate concerns. As required by the grant, the registrars have pledged to use the funds for only nonpartisan initiatives that improve election infrastructure, administration and voter education. 

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. We call on the First Selectman to stand by the decisions made by the RTM and its moderator, and promptly process the grant.

This petition was organized by a group of concerned members of the RTM and other residents in Greenwich: Dan Edelstein, Mary Ellen Markowitz, Anthony Moor (RTM District 7), Jonathan Perloe (RTM District 8) and David Snyder (RTM District 6).