MERCER COUNTY, W.Va. (WVVA) - Three counties in southern West Virginia are receiving federal funding as part of the Help America Vote Act. The money will cover a portion of nearly one million dollars in election security grants given to 24 counties in the state.
The grants which total $970,000 were approved by the West Virginia State Election Commission.
Fayette, McDowell and Mercer counties are among the 24 counties in West Virginia that will receive a share of the election security grants. Fayette County is receiving $15,000, McDowell will get $26,000 and Mercer will receive $8,000.
The money will be used to purchase new and secure voting equipment.
“The main, big target particularly with this funding has to do with up to date, non-network voting machines. So, the ExpressVotes, DS200 scanners,” said the programs director for the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, Matt Gallagher.
Gallagher says funding from the Help America Vote Act has also been used in the past for election security training. The funds are required to be matched by the counties.
The Clerk for Mercer County, Verlin Moye, says the funding they’re receiving will be used to buy two additional poll books which count ballots. The two units will cost $16,000.
“We just bought new machines but looking at it and using them for one election, the 24 primary, we determined that we could use a couple spares. That certified the need that we could use those too,” said Moye.
Moye says voters shouldn’t be concerned with voter fraud in Mercer County. He says their new voting machines are the most popular and most secure systems in the country.
The machines are subject to checks and balances by federal, state and local election officials, according to Moye.
“Our ballot commissioners they do a running tab of how many votes were cast. In the primary they differentiate which parties but in the general it’s all who voted,” said Moye. “These numbers have to match. If there’s a discrepancy we address that discrepancy at canvass.”
Moye adds that errors are typically due to human error and not by the machines.
Moye says the funding from the Help America Vote Act is a big reason the county was able to purchase new equipment earlier this year. He says the continued funding is always needed to help secure elections.
He’s encouraging people who are skeptical of the machines to check them out for themselves when they’re made available for public inspection just before the November general election.