Forest County recently received an election integrity grant of just under $18,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
The grant of $17,914 can be used to purchase election materials and supplies as well as for paying county election staff and poll workers, Forest County Chief Clerk Lynette Greathouse said at the Forest County commissioners meeting on Wednesday.
The conditions for receiving the grant are that the county must begin county mail-in and absentee ballots at 7 a.m. on Election Day, and it must properly document action taken and how the money was spent, Greathouse said.
However, she said, it has “added confusion” to voters, because “the same application used to register and make changes to voter registration is also used to apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot.”
“I think it will confuse the voters. If someone is registered to vote, they only need fill out the mail-in or absentee part,” said Jean Ann Hitchcock, Forest County’s director of elections and voter registrar.
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