Southington board to host workshops after registrars say early voting boosted workload

Tammy Thompson, the town registrar who identified herself at the meeting, told the Southington Board of Finance that changes tied to early voting expanded what had been one election day into a 15‑day process and materially increased staffing needs and costs. "We abide by [the Secretary of State's] laws...instead of having 1 day of an election, we have 15 days of an election," Thompson said.

Thompson explained that registrars historically receive an annual stipend (about $23,000) and that deputies and poll workers are paid from a separate line item. She raised concerns that registrars are doing many more hours than the stipend covers and said the town’s prior practice of allowing registrars to report overtime had become inconsistent. "I worked, like, 96 hours, and they only wanted to pay me for 15," Thompson said, and she recommended switching to an hourly model so officials are paid for actual hours worked.

Board members said the funding and accountability arrangements are opaque and agreed to pursue focused workshops to define expectations, standards and compensation flows before the next budget. Chair John Leary asked staff to schedule two workshops that would include both registrars and other stakeholders. "Let's commit to a workshop," Leary said; the board directed staff to invite both registrars and other relevant participants and to target discussion points such as the source of work standards, hours and compensation.

Finance staff and Thompson discussed that unpredictable events (primaries, recounts, recanvasses) can create election‑related expenses not included in the base budget; Thompson said some towns have full‑time assistant registrars to cover expanded early‑voting demands. The board set the workshops to inform next year’s budget recommendations and to create clearer expectations for registrar performance and pay.