Greenwich Registrars Of Voters Receive National Honor

GREENWICH, CT — Due to their commitment to being a "leader in safe, secure and inclusive elections that put voters first," the registrars of voters for the town of Greenwich have been recognized with a new national honor from the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence.

Greenwich is part of an inaugural group of localities that have been designated as a "Center for Election Excellence."

The honor recognizes that Greenwich Registrars Fred DeCaro III, a Republican, and Mary Hegarty, a Democrat, are committed to leadership in election administration and looking to develop even more resilient, trustworthy, and voter-centric election administration practices.

Greenwich is the only jurisdiction in Connecticut and New England to receive the designation.

The diverse inaugural 2023 cohort of Centers for Election Excellence include:

• Greenwich, CT
• Contra Costa County, CA
• Shasta County, CA
• Kane County, IL
• Macoupin County, IL
• Ottawa County, MI
• Clark County, NV
• Brunswick County, NC
• Forsyth County, NC
• Madison, WI

The U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence launched in 2022 and is a five-year, $80 million nonpartisan program that brings together election officials, designers, technologists, and other experts to envision, support, and celebrate excellence in U.S. election administration.

The alliance will provide Hegarty, DeCaro and their staff opportunities to collaborate with and share best practices with their colleagues from around the country, creating a national community of learning and support.

"I am thrilled that after a nationwide call for applications from jurisdictions across the country, we have chosen Greenwich as a Center for Election Excellence," said Tiana Epps-Johnson, executive director of the Center for Tech and Civic Life, in a news release.

The Center for Tech and Civic Life is a launch partner of the alliance.

"Greenwich is a leader in safe, secure and inclusive elections that put voters first," Epps-Johnson added. "I’m thrilled to work with the Greenwich Registrars to take their election administration work to the next level."

DeCaro said when he first read about the program, he immediately contacted Hegarty to begin the application process.

"We are always looking at how to improve service to our town. Likewise, we believe we have ideas and best practices to share with our new friends from across the country," DeCaro said in a news release.

DeCaro was recently reelected to an eighth two-year term.

During his tenure, he has earned a certificate in elections administration from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Government, and was in the first class of registrars to graduate from the CT Registrar Certification Program.

DeCaro is also the only current Greenwich elected official or employee to hold the CCMO designation as a Certified Connecticut Municipal Official from the CT Conference of Municipalities.

Hegarty was also recently reelected for a third term as registrar.

She brings her background as an attorney to the office and sits on the Registrars of Voters Association of CT (ROVAC) Legislative Committee.

Hegarty is also a certified CT Registrar and is completing the coursework for the UMN Certificate Program.

"Fred and I serve as an example of bipartisan cooperation in election administration. We have an excellent working relationship and although we have different personal views on policy issues, we are united in our dedication to administer fair and open elections," Hegarty said in a news release. "We hope to take advantage of some of the grants available from the alliance to pilot new programs for recruiting and training poll workers."