Submitted by Mary Flynn, D12 in response to the LTE from Scott Water, No Private Funding for Public Elections Jan 17, 2023:
Providing free and fair elections is at the heart of our democracy.
We need to preserve the integrity of the vote as we navigate early voting in the digital world.
This is a NO STRINGS ATTACHED grant to help us develop best practices, a grant that we applied for.
It’s a win-win to me.
We get the money and access to a platform where information is shared.
The country gets a platform where the best and brightest are sharing their best practices for local voting, of which we are one. This group awarded some no strings money to all 2400 localities that applied for it.
The smaller grant provides the platform for discussions and sharing with other registrars. There’s no reason that every locality should have to re-invent the wheel. Choose what’s best for your location. Get lists of pros and cons. They don’t have to agree, they just all have to be legal. It’s a forum in which to discuss that.
I may not agree with some of the funders, but I don’t have to. It’s no strings money.
It’s an extremely worthy undertaking and I thank them for doing it.
We absolutely still have to be vigilant. This is our vote. But NOT accepting this money would be like sticking our heads in the sand.
I ask the RTM members to please join me in voting yes to accept these grants, and in congratulating our Registrars for getting our voices heard.
These grants can help advance voting practices for ourselves and for our country.
Thank you,
Mary Flynn, RTM D-12