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Dallas County Elections Department Awarded Over $15 Million Leading Up To November Election

A sign pointing to a polling location in Dallas includes both the English and Spanish language.
LM Otero/AP
/
AP
FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2020 file photo, using both the English and Spanish language, a sign points potential voters to an official polling location during early voting in Dallas.

The Dallas County Elections Department has been awarded a $15 million grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) to support voting preparations leading up to the November election.

The grant will be used to hire more staff, purchase additional voting and mail-in ballot sorting equipment, increase the number of available voting locations and provide sanitation and PPE equipment for poll workers and voters.

Toni Pippins-Poole, Dallas County’s elections administrator, said the CTCL grant will ensure that citizens will be able to vote safely and that their votes will be counted.

“With these additional resources, our team can amplify their efforts to communicate safe voting protocols and opportunities to the public and provide more options for voters throughout Early Voting and on Election Day,” she said.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said the grant from CTCL “acknowledges the challenges” the Dallas County Elections Department are facing in the upcoming general election:

“We know this election will be unlike any other in recent history because of a unique combination of anticipated long lines due to the Governor blocking expanded mail-in-voting during the pandemic, the legislature’s elimination of straight-ticket voting, necessity for social distancing due to the pandemic and longer ballots due to the addition of municipal and ISD races and measures.”

The CTCL is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that connects elections officials with technology and resources to increase civic engagement.

Got a tip? Email Elizabeth Myong at Emyong@KERA.org. You can follow Elizabeth on Twitter @Elizabeth_Myong.

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Elizabeth Myong is KERA’s Arts Collaborative Reporter. She came to KERA from New York, where she worked as a CNBC fellow covering breaking news and politics. Before that, she freelanced as a features reporter for the Houston Chronicle and a modern arts reporter for Houstonia Magazine.