I applaud Alan Riquelmy’s column encouraging all voters to vote no matter what the reason. The more participation, the more democracy. And he states some of the important issues: guns, religion, Supreme Courts, abortion; that we need to be aware of.

But I believe that the main issue in this year’s elections was not mentioned: the legitimacy of our elections.

Despite all the disagreement over policy in our country, the peaceful transfer of power from winner to loser in elections has been taken for granted. The alternative leads to scenarios like violent attempts to stop the transfer of power (Jan. 6 insurrection), frivolous use of the courts (ex-president Trump and supporters filing and losing about 60 lawsuits) and maybe the worst: laws being passed in some states allowing their legislatures to reject election vote totals they don’t like.

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Unfortunately it has become almost required within the Republican party to question the legitimacy of any election not won by the party. We can see hints of this in the recent debate for the primary for U.S. House District 3 in this area. Both the Republican candidates, Scott Jones and Kevin Kiley, would not say that Biden actually won the 2020 presidential election. Even in non-partisan races involved in voting security, some have stated without evidence that election results should be questioned. (You can see this in Paul Gilbert’s statement in the excellent article on the Nevada County Clerk/Recorders race in the Sierra Sun on May 13.)

Yes, vote. But for citizens who usually vote Republican, doing so puts them in the position of supporting a party that may be ready to end democratic elections in the United States.

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Rick Needham lives in Truckee