Photo provided Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales is shown with members of the Bartholomew County Clerk’s office with their check which will fund voting center “greeters.”
Bartholomew County has received a $14,691 federal grant to provide greeters at each voting center during this year’s primary and general elections.
County Clerk Shari Lentz said she submitted her proposal for an election improvement grant from the federal Help America Vote Act late last summer. More than 60 of Indiana’s 92 counties received grant dollars through the act created in 2002 by the administration of President George W. Bush. The approved grants are worth about $2 million.
The greeter will be able to instruct voters on what they will need to cast a ballot, which includes a driver’s license or government-issued identification card, as well as help residents better understand the modern voting process, Lentz said.
“Our inspectors always try to fill that role, but it’s always difficult – especially in a presidential primary and general election – for that inspector to do everything required,” Lentz said.
A greeter will also take calls from individuals who want to make sure they are registered to vote before they head out to stand in line at a voting center, she said.
Although the money comes from the federal government, the staff of Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales were the ones that reviewed each grant application and decided which proposals should be funded. One of Morales’ duties is to provide oversight to elections held throughout Indiana.
Since the end of the holidays, Morales has been visiting Indiana counties to hand deliver election improvement grants to county clerks. A member of Morales’ staff said they’ve visited almost 40 different communities.
During his visit, the Indiana Secretary of State also took the time to thank Lentz’s staff for their hard work. Morales also inquired about what additional resources the employees need to improve at their jobs.
Morales was accompanied on his trip by Dustin Renner, the former Bartholomew County chief deputy clerk who was appointed election director for the Secretary of State’s Office.
