HARTFORD - Saying the state's Department of Motor Vehicles can't handle any more "burdens," Republicans said the state of Connecticut should enforce motor voter laws without using a new automatic system.
To comply with federal motor voter laws, they propose a plan that they said will ensure current state voter registration laws are enforced without placing added burdens on the DMV.
The Republicans said their proposal is an alternative to a costlier motor voter registration system proposed that failed to garner legislative approval and was initially met with opposition by the DMV due to its cost and customer service challenges.
“The problem is not that we don’t have a system. The problem is that the departments do not follow the system,” said State Senator Michael McLachlan (R-Danbury), the ranking member of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, in a statement release Wednesday. “The DMV is required to offer a voter registration form to everyone and send these forms to town registrars. But this does not always happen. Voter registration applications are not always offered to every person and often applications get filled out and sit in a bin at the DMV instead of getting mailed to the town registrar.”