Ballot boxes have become a hot topic this summer, with rising concerns about the upcoming elections and whether all ballots will make it to election offices in time to be counted.
Democrats are pushing for increased vote-by-mail options and drop boxes, while the reelection committee for Republican President Donald Trump is suing Pennsylvania to eliminate the use of ballot boxes. Republicans have taken action to prevent the use of ballot boxes in other states such as Missouri and Tennessee, according to a report by WTBV in Michigan.
Organizations such as the Chicago nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) claim to be working toward making elections more secure and available for all to vote no matter the obstacles, and are providing funding to do it. For example, in Wisconsin, the mayors of Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Racine and Milwaukee have obtained grant funding totaling $6.3 million from the CTCL, according to Spectrum News 1.
Casey Carl
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The five cities created the “Wisconsin Safe Voting Plan” and obtained the grant funds to support the upcoming elections. As a result of the funding they will be able to invest in securely opening an adequate number of voting sites, creating drive-through and drop-box locations and other measures that encourage citizens to feel safe as they cast their ballots.
The City of Minneapolis is not among those having received any funding from the CTCL, says City Clerk Casey Carl.
“We have not received any money from them to to my knowledge,” Carl told the Minneapolis Review. “Certainly not my office at this point. We've received no money from them to help with elections.”
According to Influence Watch, the CTCL receives funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation, among others. CTCL states on its website that the group seeks to foster a “more informed and engaged democracy” while “helping to modernize U.S. elections.”
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