HANCOCK COUNTY, W.Va. (WTRF) - The general election is about a month away and West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner recently announced big news to ensure safer elections.
The West Virginia State Election Commission approved almost $1 million in its latest rounds of its Help America Vote Application grants.
Nearly 24 counties applied for this HAVA grant, and Hancock County is among the counites awarded funding.
Hancock County Clerk Karan Valenti says the county received $5,376.16 to purchase security cameras and an access panel for where their election equipment is stored.
“We have purchased security cameras and an access control panel for where we keep our election equipment so that if anybody comes in, they have to slide to come in. So, you know who's entering the room, what time, and when. And then, of course, the security cameras. We always want to have safe elections, and it's very important to keep our equipment safe. We take that very serious. And the secretary of state takes that very serious. We go through a lot to maintain the security of our elections.”
Karan Valenti | Hancock County Clerk
Valenti says around $1700 of this grant funding was reimbursement for equipment purchased in the previous fiscal year.
"So, the last HAVA grant we got, we had purchased our E-Poll books. We realized after we got them, we needed things like charging cords and a large case to keep them in and different things like that. And so, we had to purchase those items. With this [current] grant, we were allowed to go back and get reimbursed for those items."
Karan Valenti | Hancock County Clerk
Valenti says she was thrilled to learn Hancock County was awarded this latest HAVA grant saying, "it really extends our purchasing power."