I was truly disappointed to see Lisa Arpin, in her public function as Town Clerk, appearing in a video for Dominc Rapini, and by extension, supporting his election-denying claims. As a private citizen, she has every right to support whomever she chooses, but she was identified in her public position in his ad and this should never have happened.

As someone deeply involved in election management and election integrity, Town Clerk Aprin is responsible for certifying elections as well as distributing, collecting, and protecting absentee ballots. While our voting machines are 20 years old, they’ve been constantly maintained and work well. We have spares and back up parts and our election software is reliable — as validated by countless post-election audits over the years. Our verification of absentee and in-person voting does not allow significant voter fraud, as Mr. Rapini is clearly intimating.

Rapini is attacking all three of these truths, and since Lisa is in a position to know better, it should be her job to push back, not enable. We don't need public officials fanning the flames of election denialism.

John Hartwell

Branford