Commissioners table acceptance of grant from Center for Tech and Civic Life

The Stephens County Commissioners tabled the acceptance of a grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life during the Tuesday, October 13 meeting inside the courthouse.

The grant, offering Stephens County $6,783, is also offering funding to election administrators in all 50 states for resources like personal protective equipment and hazard pay for poll workers to ensure a safe and healthy election.

“They are based out of Illinois, and what they do is give counties and cities money to make sure they have access for a variety of individuals,” Michael Roach, Stephens County Judge said. “Disable individuals, minorities, and people this group feels has been marginalized or oppressed, and the goal is to increase access. They provide money to counties and cities for these purposes. There are several counties in Texas that ave accepted these funds.”

Commissioners tabled the agenda item due to the pending litigation the Center for Tech and Civic Life is in nine states including, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, and Pennsylvania.

A lawsuit has been filed by the Texas Voters Alliance, Warren Johnson, Alan Vera, Russell Hayter, and Donnie Wisenbaker in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas. The lawsuit asserts that the grants violate federal election law.

Center for Tech and Civic Life is a non-partisan non-profit that works to “foster a more informed and engaged democracy and helping to modernize U.S. elections,” according to its website.

“It seems to me that there are certain jurisdictions who don’t have adequate funding, and they want to make sure that funding is not an issue to run a secure and accessible polling location,” Roach said. “The amount of the grant shall be expended on the following specific election administration needs. Poll worker recruitment funds, hazard pay or training expense, temporary staffing, vote by mail or absentee voting equipment or supplies.”

The county received the opportunity to take advantage of the “Help Make America Vote” grant and various election security grants that are provided by the state and the federal government.

The grants were only available until the end of this year and accounted for 80% of the total amount for the up date of election equipment. Stephens County would pay 20% or approximately $14,000 to update election security and this grant could assist in that manner.

The non-partisan-non profit organization has received over $300 million from Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook chief executive officer, and his wife, Priscilla Chan. On Wednesday, October 14, the couple announced an additional $100 million to help local election offices prepare for November, according to the Washington Post.

The funds total now equals the $400 million that the United States Congress has allotted to provide a safe and secure election.

Stephens County commissioners will add the issue to the agenda to discuss at a later date. Commissioners Court will continue to meet on the second and fourth Monday of the month.