State and federal aid have been given to all 169 towns in the state to help ensure that the November elections will proceed smoothly and without interference.
In addition to the presidential election, there are also elections for Connecticut state representatives (64th District for the Northwest Corner) and senators (30th District) and congressmen (5th District).
“This unprecedented effort to ensure that the 2020 election is safe, secure and accessible to every voter has ensured that absentee ballots are available to every voter who wants one, polling places are safe for voters who choose to vote in person and for poll workers and our elections are protected against the ongoing threat of foreign interference,” said Secretary of the State Denise Merrill in announcing the grants on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Absentee ballots
One of the three grants offers absentee ballot support for town clerks “to process, mail out, and count a record-breaking number of absentee ballots,” according to the news release from the secretary of the state’s office.
“2020 is the first election in Connecticut history where every voter is able to vote by absentee ballot if they choose to do so. The grant assumes that 80% of registered voters will chose to vote in 2020, and that 66% of those voters will choose to vote by absentee ballot, and grants towns $1 for each voter through the 10,000th projected voter and $2 for each additional voter more than 10,000. Should more voters cast absentee ballots than projected, towns will receive additional grant money in the same amounts.
“The Absentee Ballot Support Grant projects more than 1.1 million votes cast by absentee ballots, for a total grant amount of $1,446,693. This is in addition to the $2 million dollars spent on printing and postage for the absentee ballot applications and ballots in the primary, the $2.1 million on printing and postage for the absentee ballot applications for the general, the $500,000 for Secure Ballot Drop Boxes, and the $1.1 million on postage for the absentee ballot packages and completed ballots for the general.
The Safe Polls Grant will pay for PPEs for “each of Connecticut’s 750 polling places in the primary and the general, and deep cleaning services.”
The Election Day Registration Access Grant is given to the 20 largest towns in the state and helps cover the cost of “a potential surge in new voters registering to vote on Election Day,” according to the news release.
“The Election Day Registration Access Grant recognizes that towns with highly mobile populations and towns that host large universities have greater need for resources devoted to registering voters on Election Day.”
Towns were also offered “$200,000 in 50/50 matching grants to replace outdated equipment, $350,000 in Cybersecurity Risk Assessments by the Connecticut National Guard and the Secure Polls Grant of $220,000 conditioned on completing cybersecurity training and risk assessments by the Connecticut National Guard,” according to the news release.
Grants were expected to be sent to towns before Sept. 11.
