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Less than half of New Haven's registered voters went to the polls in 2006 when Jodi Rell beat New Haven Mayor John DeStefano in the governor's race. Voter turnout is low, claim independents and "minor" parties, because registrars of voters aren't progressive enough.

"The approach that most registrars take is very passive," says New Haven's Green Party boss, Charlie Pillsbury, who's running for registrar. "They think their job is to remove people more than it is to add people [to voter rolls]. We should be in every school every spring registering the 17-year-olds, and we need to educate them."

With that kind of approach, a Green registrar of voters would benefit the whole city by increasing voter participation, says Pillsbury.

Registrars oversee voter registration, voter education and administer elections — they're a key component to a democracy. For a third party candidate to become a registrar of voters, the candidate needs to take second place on election day. This is one of the few elections in which a third party candidate isn't a "spoiler" because Democrats and Republicans are guaranteed a registrar under state law, even though there are twice as many unaffiliated voters in Connecticut as there are Republicans.

Hartford's Urania Petit, a community activist and the Working Families Party candidate for registrar there, is passionate and progressive about the role of registrar.

"You can register people [to vote] but without educating and encouraging them it's not going to happen," she says.

Petit has an elaborate education plan which includes a bimonthly voter series intended to beef up participation.

"We need someone who is an activist to knock on people's doors and say, 'Have you registered? Why not?, Let's get you registered.' This job is not just for someone looking for a paycheck."

New Haven, Stamford and Weston Greens are fielding candidates for registrar of voters, as are the Independents in Waterbury. They're all running on a progressive platform, saying they'll be more aggressive at registering people to vote and will focus on voter education to get voters to the polls.

In New Haven, Pillsbury wants more voter registration drives; in Stamford the Greens' David Bedell wants to increase access by making voter registration forms available in all government offices.

But a recent Hartford Courant editorial claims that three registrars of voters in one city is "daft." Their complaint is centered on cost: At a time when cities are laying off employees to solve budget woes, hiring another employee is economically tough. "The law needs to be changed," argues the editorial. "While we're at it, why not create one registrar per town?"

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz isn't rushing to add or subtract registrars:

"At this time we think the current system provides checks and balances and we don't believe that adding additional registrars would necessarily be beneficial," she says. "Looking to the future we have been working with the Registrars of Voters Association of Connecticut and we would be open to exploring new ways to administer elections."

But a third party registrar could strengthen third parties, which would create more competition and, by extension, a more vibrant democracy.

"Knowledge is power," says Mike Telesca, chairman of Waterbury's Independent Party. Telesca says third parties sometimes have a hard time getting information from the two major party registrars. But a registrar position would rectify that by giving them easy access to voter rolls, to help organize the party's base, he says.

"The only way you can succeed as a party is by organizing your electorate," says Mike DeRosa, state co-chair of the Green Party. "How else do you know who's in your neighborhood or town or district who have the same views as you do and want to organize around that?"


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