It took less than a minute, and then New Haven officially had a new Republican registrar of voters.
Marlene Napolitano took the oath to become the new registrar in a ceremony held inside her office on the second floor of 200 Orange St. Monday afternoon.
Repeating after city Corporation Counsel John Rose Jr., Napolitano solemnly swore to faithfully and impartially fulfill her duties as one of the city’s two registrars. The full registrar office staff and local Republicans crowded into Napolitano’s new office to observe and then congratulate her.
Napolitano has been informally filling the role for months, including during the Nov. 5 municipal elections, since the retirement of Republican Registrar Delores Knight, who had held the position since longtime Registrar Rae Tramanto retired in 2013.
State law reserves both Republican and Democratic registrar of voters positions in each municipality.
“I’m excited,” Napolitano said of her new position. She said she looks forward to “cohesiveness” and ” a smooth operation” with Democratic Registrar Shannel Evans, with whom she said she has enjoyed working. The two implemented a series of changes this fall designed to improve how elections are run in town. (Read about that here and here.)