Committee accepts $440,326 state voter‑registration grant to support maintenance, security and outreach

The Financial and Administrative Committee approved a resolution on Aug. 7 accepting a $440,326.57 grant from the Illinois State Board of Elections to support Lake County’s voter registration maintenance and related costs. Clark Vega, a county elections official, told the committee the annual grant funds the voter‑registration audit and related maintenance and security expenses.

Vega said the grant would pay for a voter‑registration audit planned for the fall and would also fund recently approved camera equipment and other physical and cybersecurity measures. The grant was described as a new appropriation not previously budgeted; county staff said the expenses are currently being incurred in the current fiscal year and the grant will reimburse those costs. The committee approved the resolution without further amendment.

Legal reference cited in staff materials included an obligation to facilitate communication with the centralized statewide voter‑registration system, described in materials as Title 3, section 303 of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. Committee members voted to accept the grant and appropriate the funds as an emergency appropriation for the stated purposes.