Hartford Registrar Takes the Fall for Problems at Polls

In an exclusive interview with NBC Connecticut on Wednesday, one of the Hartford Registrars of Voters apologized over last week's Election Day snafu, saying she failed in her responsibility to voters.

“I feel like the people of Hartford deserve an apology and the people in the office have actually done something wrong," said Urania Petit, who has held the job since 1999. "It was an administrative error.”

Petit is one of the city's three registrars under the microscope after the late delivery of voter registration lists hampered voting at a number of city polls. A judge ruled to extend voting hours at two of the precincts as a result.

When asked if there was anything she would have done differently, Petit said she would have sent the logs of voters out to the precincts sooner.

"We could have sent the books out when they were available, but instead we waited until all of the books were available," Petit explained.

Petit said she was completely in the dark about the voting issues that occurred at some of the most high-profile precincts in the state.

The polling locations for Gov. Dan Malloy, Attorney General George Jepsen and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill all saw delays that turned away some voters.

Tonight the Hartford City Council voted 8-2 in favor of forming a committee to investigate the registrars' office and the problems that arose last Tuesday.

“I welcome the investigation," Petit said. "I think that they ought to have an investigation because I think that some good will come out of it, because this investigation is going to teach us what all was broken and how we fix it.”

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