We take exception to the recent media frenzy to revamp the registrars of voters' offices in Connecticut without weighing both sides of the issue. It is true that as the Republican and Democratic registrars were were selected by our respective political town committees, but not because we were good "envelope lickers."

Most registrars have worked very hard in a variety of positions, including having held public office, managing political campaigns, knocking on doors, working for the General Assembly, and generally interacting with the voters of their cities or towns. These are some of the qualifications that make a person able to deal with the general public as a registrar of voters.

Most registrars undergo extensive training after being elected by way of periodic moderator training, online training, and Registrars of Voters Association (ROVAC) twice yearly training conferences. To say that registrars are untrained and unprepared is simply a way for the Secretary of State to push forward her own agenda. To paint all registrars with the same brush of incompetence because of a few mistakes is grossly unfair to those of us who strive to do the very best that we can to uphold the laws and regulations governing our positions. Some of the issues have been caused by local municipal budgets and by archaic laws that prevent registrars from printing lists in a timely manner.

What the news media and other detractors fail to realize is that changing the procedure to appointed registrars will result in more patronage positions with absolutely no checks and balances to be certain that the offices are being run in a truly professional and nonpartisan manner. Do you really think that whichever party is in power will not abuse that power to appoint its own "envelope lickers" to those positions? Just look at the history of appointments in this state.

Unfortunately, the media is looking at only one side of the story. Every registrar that we've spoken with would be more than happy to have representatives of the media and Secretary of State's office observe the procedures leading up to an election. We're sure it would be quite an eye opener.

Dianne Slopak and Dianne M. Daniels are the registrars of voters for the City of Norwich.