Miami Courant

Several cities throughout the nation have received funding from an organization trying to support safe election operations during COVID-19, but one of the most populated regions said it had not received any funding from the nonprofit. 

In an email to the Miami Courant, the Miami-Dade County records custodian for the Government Affairs and Media Relations Division, Ramon Castellanos, said that the jurisdiction had not received any funding from the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL). 

Though Miami-Dade, the seventh most populated county in the country, has not received funding for several large cities in the battleground state of Wisconsin, it is a different story. 

In Wisconsin, CTCL awarded collectively $6.3 million to the state's five largest cities — Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine — for the "Wisconsin Safe Voting Plan" initiative. These cities will use the nonprofit's funding to prepare and operate safe elections, with drive-thru voting, dropbox voting, PPE for poll workers and other needs, Spectrum News 1 reported. 

"The deadly COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global public health crisis and seriously impaired the ability of local governments to administer safe and smooth elections," Racine Mayor Cory Mason told Spectrum News 1. "These grants will help each municipality make investments that will ensure smooth, safe and healthy elections in a time of a national health pandemic — which each municipality otherwise would struggle to do while facing an intense budget shortfall."  

Racine received a $942,100 grant that city leaders intend to use to support early voting, balloting by mail, poll-worker recruitment and other voting efforts. The other four cities will also use the grants for similar purposes. 

"We have seen what can happen to elections in the midst of a dangerous pandemic — long lines, limited locations, threatened exposure to a deadly disease and voters concerned about going to the polls due to serious health fears," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett told Spectrum News 1. "These resources will help us address these problems, and I thank the Center for Tech and Civic Life for making these important and wise investments."

In Milwaukee, CTCL provided $2,154,500 to support expanding the number of early voting sites, give assistance to voters who need it and deploy more poll staff as necessary to help expedite the absentee voting process. 

"The coronavirus pandemic has provided a stress test for our democratic institutions, including our elections, and we know we must do better," Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich told Spectrum News 1. "The support of the Center for Tech and Civic Life will enable us to ensure that all Green Bay citizens can exercise their right to vote safely and securely in August and November."

CTCL awarded $1,093,400 to Green Bay, which will be used for purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) and supporting drive-thru voting efforts. 

"Through an extraordinary effort, Madison was able to pull off a safe election in April, but we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars we hadn't budgeted doing so," Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway told Spectrum News 1. "As we have seen in Wisconsin and across the nation, COVID-19 is not gone; in fact, it's getting worse in some places. If we are going to meet our obligations as elected leaders to ensure the safe administration of elections during this pandemic, we have to think differently and bring in help where we can. These valuable resources will go a long way to running successful elections this year."

Madison has been awarded $1,271,788 from the CTCL, which will also go to many of the same areas as the other cities, including recruiting and hiring poll staff and providing voting facilities with the funds needed for cleaning and sanitation. CTCL also awarded Kenosha $862,779. 

It is not entirely clear about the number of communities CTCL is helping to administer elections. Some media outlets have reported the Illinois-based CTCL is also providing funds to cities in Florida, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.