Sedgwick County approves grant to enhance election security
The grant will provide upgrades to each of the 105 Sedgwick County election offices. Sedgwick County, Kansas, has approved a $37,163 grant from the Kansas Secretary of State to provide upgrades to each of the 105 Sedgwick county election offices. The upgrades will include physical security of election equipment and ballots, as well as separating voting machines from warehouse workers and requiring secure key card access to official election spaces. The grant is intended to help voters feel more comfortable and secure in where and how their votes are stored. Elections officials expect all security measures to be completed by February 2024.
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Publicados : 2 anos atrás por KWCH Staff no Politics
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Sedgwick County commissioners approved a $37,163 grant from the Kansas Secretary of State that is designed to improve election security by protecting ballots and equipment.
The grant will provide upgrades to each of the 105 Sedgwick County election offices, including physical security of election equipment and ballots. County election commissioner Laura Rainwater said the upgrades were conceived with voters in mind.
“Nothing is more important than our local election,” Rainwater said. “Nothing impacts our daily lives more than our local offices. ...Voter confidence is very important to us, and it’s just another way to increased voter confidence that we are truly taking it to the highest level we possibly can.”
The grant comes from the secretary of state’s federal Help America Vote Act security funds. Upgrades will have two focuses - first, separating the voting machines from the warehouse workers, and requiring secure key card access to official election spaces.”
“Currently it’s under lock and key with a written notepad that people must sign in and out of,” Rainwater said. “Now we’re going to go to key card access.”
Rainwater said voter participation has increased since the 2020 election, and Sedgwick County currently has 331,000 registered voters. With the general election coming on Nov. 7, election officials hope the added security helps voters feel more comfortable and secure in where and how their votes are stored.
Rainwater expects all security measures to be completed by February 2024.
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Tópicos: Election Security