Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has signed into law measures meant to improve the state’s election systems following missteps at polling places this past Election Day.The law allows the Secretary of State to temporarily relieve a registrar of his or her duties while also creating an avenue for removal from office. Praising the law, Secretary of State Denise Merrill originally proposed scrapping Connecticut’s election system where two people, typically one Republican and one Democrat, are elected as registrars in each town. That idea was opposed by the state’s registrars association and its president Melissa Russell.
“This bill includes a lot of things that registrars have been asking for a number of years including better technology, internet reporting, certification and more training for our registrars,” Russell said in June after the Senate passed the bill.
Registrars acting unprofessionally have been blamed for improper vote tallying and opening polls late in places like Hartford and Bridgeport.