Commissioners have different opinions on election funding from state
Butler County commissioners expressed differing opinions about the effectiveness of state legislation that makes the county eligible to receive nearly $700,000 to administer the upcoming election under a set of rules aimed at improving the integrity of elections.
Agreeing to abide by the rules is a requirement of the law passed in early July that creates the Election Integrity Grant Program and allocates $45 million from the state budget to fund the program. The law calls for annual funding.
At their July 27 meeting, the commissioners agreed to apply for a grant of up to $696,389 from the program, which allows counties to receive $5.15 for each registered voter. Butler County has 135,235 registered voters.
The rules attached to the grant require the county to not receive any election funding from third parties, to begin counting election ballots at 7 a.m. on Election Day, and to continue that ballot counting uninterrupted until it is complete.
Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the board of commissioners, said the county has carried out most of those requirements in previous elections.
She said the county never has accepted third-party funding for elections and turned down an offer in 2020 from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which receives donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
“We never got third-party election funding. It was brought up here. We immediately said we’re not interested. It’s our responsibility,” Osche said. A specific dollar amount was not included in that contact, she added.
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