MORGANTOWN — Monongalia, Preston and Marion counties were among the 41 that will receive federal grants to improve election security, the secretary of state’s office announced.
Monongalia will receive $275,117.34; Preston, $356,226.68; Marion, $6,120.
The total grant pool was $6,535,478.96, Secretary of State Mac Warner said in a release. It came from two federal loan funds: $3.6 million secured under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in April and $2.9 million from a prior HAVA grant. Warner pooled the money and established an application process to distribute it.
The 41 counties applied for the money and the state Election Commission approved the awards. Depending on the items requested, counties are required to supply a percentage of matching funds, Warner said.
Combined with the matching funds, the $6.5 million allocation will result in more than $12.6 million in new election systems, along with physical and cyber security upgrades throughout the state, Warner said.
Monongalia County Clerk Carye Blaney said in an email, “We are planning on making some ADA upgrades to our Election Center doors, printing new voter registration cards that are compatible with our ePollbook check-in stations, making security upgrades to our Election Center, purchasing more voter registration computer equipment, and the remaining money will go to purchase additional voting machines.”
Warner said in the release, “Any time we can secure federal money to help our county clerks leverage additional local funding to address election security, we’re going to do our best to get it. The upgrades and improvements that will be made because of this funding will continue to increase confidence in our election system at the local level.”
