In November of 2022 the Town of Greenwich Registrars of Voters received a designation as one of 10 Centers for Election Excellence.   Shortly thereafter we were offered a $500,000 grant for non-partisan election purposes.

The acceptance of this grant was not without controversy.  In many states private funding of elections were banned because people said that the grants were used for partisan purposes.

After numerous debates, Greenwich’s Representative Town Meeting approved acceptance of this grant.  Here’s the facts one year later.

The Town of Greenwich has a process which requires that any spending related to this grant goes through three layers of approval.  First, the two Registrars must agree on what to propose as an expenditure.  Second, the BET must approve the spending.  Third, the RTM must approve the spending.

Once the Registrars began to propose the actual uses of the money, all of the opposition to the grant dissipated.  The BET approved the first tranche unanimously.  The RTM approved it as part of its consent calendar, 175-5.  And people who were loudly critical of the receipt of these funds were suddenly lauding proposed usage for things like security cameras.

The second tranche of spending has met with similar approval.  Again, unanimously approved by our BET.  And approved 179-3 by the RTM as a part of its consent calendar.  

Speaking as a lifelong, conservative, pro-life, pro-2A, Republican, with 30 years of proven activism, I’m surprised at the backwards and non-strategic thinking which has been part of the opposition to this grant.   Consider:

 

  • Since states are responsible for elections, banning this funding in a “red” state just means more funding goes to “blue” states.  So instead of demanding equal access to the funds, you basically disarm and let the funds go to the “blue” states.  Ronald Reagan certainly wouldn’t have been an admirer of such unilateral disarmament!
  • The grants have turned out to be exactly what was promised.  There have been no strings attached.  It is the no strings attached nature of the grant which means that I can spend it on security upgrades, but another town might instead decide to do a mailing to encourage voter registration.  Each community makes their own decision as to how to spend the money.

That doesn’t stop folks from spouting misinformation.  Some people feel free to make unsubstantiated claims, misquote sources, and just move on with no regret for the effect of their remarks on people or our institutions.  Ronald Reagan said “Trust, but verify.”  Unfortunately today it’s more like "mistrust, and live in ignorance of the facts, so you can continue with your talking points."

I welcome anyone to come and see how we are spending these grant funds in ways that are keeping dollars in Greenwich property-owners’ pockets.  On important things like replacing 10 year old computers.  Improving physical security.  Adding handicapped-access.  And making the election process in Greenwich even better for every voter.

I welcome any questions about all the fear-mongering from last year.  Many false claims were made about requirements to hand over voter data, and about requiring me to perform actions which benefitted one party.  Two years later, none of these things have happened.  In fact, the opposite has happened, as I have been able to use those funds to add to the physical security of our process.  Wild speculation about how we would be handing over data to some nefarious organization are now verifiably and completely false.  It’s hard to stop uninformed accusations in the heat of the moment, but now, with time and facts, these claims ring hollow and I believe are an embarrassment.

The non-partisan, no-strings attached nature of the 2022/23 Election Excellence grants has now been well established.  In one of the most telling turn of events, Shasta County, California has just recently approved receipt of a $1.5 million dollar grant as part of the same program.   Shasta County made headlines in 2023 by cancelling its contract for Dominion voting machines and instructing its Registrar of Voters to create a plan to hand count ballots for its 100,000 voters. This year the same commissioners reversed course and in 2024 accepted the grant, a portion of which will purchase new voting equipment as they have been forced to abandon their plan to hand count ballots.  

Meanwhile, I continue to work with other Centers of Election Excellence to create nationwide voluntary values and standards for election excellence which help to improve the field of election administration.  We have used the grant to improve security in our office, purchase new equipment, create opportunities for citizens to ask questions about the elections process, and we're just getting started.  More handicapped access, improved signage for voters, better and more secure storage for equipment, and other improvements are forthcoming.