Replacements needed to help oversee voting
By Bob Bumcrot

Staging local elections depends on a small cadre of Norfolk residents who supervise the polling, for which they are paid modestly, yet who keep coming back seemingly year after year. But change is in the offing.
The town is looking for a few good men or women ready to take the place of some weary Norfolk volunteers who have been manning the voting booths and registering new voters for decades, and are now entering their seventh, eighth and even ninth decades of life.
Various personal considerations in addition to age and fragile health can mandate a decision to step down.  At a recent election, one official had to be imported from another town to fill a vacancy.
Any voter who is not a candidate for election is eligible for appointment as an election official. “We would especially like to find some younger people with a little familiarity with computers and an interest in serving the community,” says Madeline Falk, one of two registrars of voters, the most demanding of official positions.
The town’s two registrars are nominated by each of the two political parties and elected, traditionally unopposed, in a municipal election. The current registrars are Phylis Bernard (R) and Madeline Falk (D). This is Bernard’s first and Falk’s second term. Falk replaced Kevin O’Connor, who served for 43 years.
The registrars maintain an accurate list of all eligible voters in Norfolk and hold regular office hours from 9 to 11 a.m. each Friday on the second floor of Town Hall. Prospective voters may register there or apply at the town clerk’s office.
The election officials one encounters when casting a vote at Town Hall are all Norfolk neighbors. They are carrying out official duties defined by Connecticut statutes and administered by Secretary of State Denise Merrill. While performing a necessary civic duty, they also enjoy an easy collegiality during short breaks for coffee and meals. Although the election day is long, stretching from 5:15  a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and beyond for some officials, some say it passes easily enough with a little help from books, magazines or newspapers during lulls in voter activity.
While most officials are principally motivated by a combination of civic duty and companionship, they are also modestly paid by the town at rates ranging from ten to fifteen dollars an hour.
Between elections, registrars conduct partial or town-wide canvasses, either by mail or telephone, to ensure continued accuracy of the voting list. This is particularly important for keeping track of voters who move out of town.
Registrars also oversee, with the moderator and in accordance with strict state guidelines, both the pre-election testing of voting machines, and their installation on election morning.
Each registrar chooses an assistant registrar, and they are currently Kathy Yeltsis (R) and Vanessa Millard (D).  Other officials appointed by the registrars include the moderator, ballot clerks, official checkers, tabulator tenders, and absentee ballot counters. Of these positions, only the moderator must be certified after taking a short course and passing a state examination. While there is usually only one moderator at an election, the registrars strive to have available a roster of several certified moderators from each party.
The moderator, who is the chief polling place official, swears in all the other officials early in the morning, declares the election open, deals with disputes and disturbances (including calling the police if necessary), declares the election closed at the end of the day and reports the results to the secretary of state.