Silver State Times

With the election only months away, questions remain in Nevada about how ballots will be used in the November election. 

Democrats support the expansion of mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while some Republicans claim that ballot boxes could be used to cast fraudulent votes. 

Even the re-election committee for President Donald Trump is suing to keep ballot drop boxes from being used in Pennsylvania, according to a report by WTVB.

Nevertheless, some groups are working to make sure all votes are counted – including the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), which has provided funding to various counties across the country to ensure that every legitimate ballot is posted.

In Nye County, however, Clerk Sandra L. Merlino said that the CTCL has not provided funds to its elections offices.

“(No), Nye County did not accept nor were we offered any funding from the Center for Tech and Civic Life to support elections operations,” Merlino wrote in an email to the Silver State Times.

Wisconsin mayors in five cities (Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Racine and Milwaukee) received funding totaling $6.3 million from the CTCL for their efforts, according to Spectrum News 1.

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 can 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 in casting their ballots.

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.”