ORANGE — The town clerk announced last week that Orange will be awarded $5,000 in grant money to fund safe and secure elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nancy Blackmer said the money from the non-profit Center for Tech and Civic Life will help the town administer the Nov. 3 general election. The funding will enable her to buy equipment to handle the increase in vote-by-mail ballots and help cover the costs associated with voting by mail and early voting.
The pandemic has created serious budget challenges for towns across the country. As a result, Blackmer said state and local governments are grappling with unexpected deficits, raising the prospect of deep and difficult cuts to core services. To meet this challenge, Blackmer applied for grant money from the Center for Tech and Civic Life to support election operations.
Blackmer mentioned the grant program allows towns to prepare for and operate safe elections by investing in priorities that would otherwise be challenging to accomplish — such as securely opening an adequate number of voting sites, setting up dropbox locations, providing personal protective equipment for poll workers, and recruiting and training a sufficient number of poll workers.
“It’s allowing me to get extra signage and extra equipment that I would not normally be able to have,” Blackmer explained. “It will make the job a little easier.”
Polls will be at St. Mary’s Parish Center.
The Center for Tech and Civic Life is a nationally-recognized, nonpartisan organization of civic technologists, trainers, researchers, election administrators and data experts working to help modernize U.S. elections. According to its website, the nonprofit aims to connect election officials with guidance, expertise, tools and trainings so they can best serve their communities, and ensure elections are more professional and secure.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.