Branford DTC Files Superior Court Complaint Against Town Clerk To 'Ensure' Ed Board Candidate Is Seated

BRANFORD, CT — The Branford Democratic Town Committee and "duly elected Democratic candidate for the Branford Board of Education, Harlan Fichtenholtz," filed a complaint in Superior Court Wednesday to "ensure that Fichtenholtz is properly sworn in as the winner of this November’s municipal election," a news release reads.

The legal action challenges the Republican Town Clerk Lisa Arpin’s decision to seat a lower-vote-getting candidate and seeks a court order recognizing Fichtenholtz as the rightful winner of one of the two two-year vacancy seats on the Board of Education, the DTC asserts.

Patch reached out to Arpin for comment early Wednesday afternoon. A reply was not received by the end of Branford Town Hall business Wednesday.

According to records from the Secretary of State and the town's own election figures, in the Nov. 4 election, Fichtenholtz received 4,854 votes, or 26.68 percent of the vote, the second-highest total for the two-year vacancy terms.

Republican candidate Emily Johnson received 3,924 votes, or 21.57 percent of the vote.

The DTC charges that despite the vote totals, "The Town Clerk declared Johnson elected instead of Fichtenholtz."

The DTC called Arpin's action an "incorrect declaration of Johnson as the winner."

The Superior Court complaint

According to the DTC and the complaint itself, it argues Arpin's decision "violates Connecticut election law and the state’s minority representation statute, which explicitly provides that unexpired terms must be filled before full terms are considered when applying minority representation rules."

"Seating Fichtenholtz would not violate those rules; it would result in a 6-3 Democratic-Republican balance on the nine-member Board — a composition permitted under state law," the DTC asserts in a news release.

"From Washington to towns across America, we’ve seen a disturbing trend of Republicans trying to overturn the will of the voters," Branford Democratic Town Committee Chair Kevin Coughlin said. "Now it’s happening in Branford, and we’re not going to let local Republicans get away with it. The votes are counted, the results are clear, and democracy must be respected. No official has the authority to ignore the will of the voters. We are confident the court will uphold the law and confirm what the people of Branford decided at the ballot box."

The complaint seeks a "prompt hearing and a court order directing that Harlan Fichtenholtz be administered the oath of office as a duly elected member of the Branford Board of Education," Coughlin said..

A copy of the verified complaint was filed Wednesday in New Haven Superior Court.

Read the full 14-page complaint here:

HARLAN FICHTENHOLTZ V. LISA ARPIN, Branford Town Clerk, VERIFIED COMPLAINT by Ellyn Santiago