DoD AWARDS RESEARCH GRANTS FOR MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTING SYSTEMS - Final recipients of grant program announced
September 30, 2013 - Alexandria, Va. - The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) is pleased to announce the second and final group of recipients of the Effective Absentee Systems for Elections 2 (EASE 2) research grant program. EASE 2 is the second round of grants from FVAP to States and localities to explore technological improvements for military and overseas citizen voters. The EASE 2 grants fund two research areas:
- the development and effect of online blank ballot delivery tools, and
- the establishment and effect of a single point of contact in a State election office for the transmission of election materials.
Election officials from States and local jurisdictions were eligible to apply for a grant. Data received from grant recipients will enable FVAP to gauge the effectiveness of grant-funded programs in expanding a voter's ability and opportunity to successfully receive, cast and return an absentee ballot. Using grant funds to develop a system for the electronic return of a marked ballot is strictly prohibited.
Military and overseas voters from the following States, county and county consortiums will be able to access their blank ballot via online systems.
States
Idaho ($250,000)
Kentucky ($2,241,159)
Nevada ($386,500)
Rhode Island ($50,163)
County
Travis County, Texas ($19,950)
County Consortiums
King County, Washington received $1,818,700 to expand their five-county consortium established for the 2011 FVAP grant program, to a consortium of 11 Washington counties. The counties participating in this consortium are: Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Franklin, King, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Whatcom and Yakima.
Kitsap County, Washington received $743,580 for a consortium of 16 Washington counties. The counties participating in this consortium are: Adams, Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Cowiltz, Douglas, Garfield, Grays Harbor, Kitsap, Kittitas, Mason, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Snohomish, Thurston and Walla Walla.
Okaloosa County, Florida received $1,881,339 to expand their 13-county consortium established for the 2011 FVAP grant program, to a consortium of 34 Florida counties. The counties participating in this consortium are: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Hernando, Highlands, Indian River, Jackson, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Osceola, Pinellas, Putnam, St. Johns, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Sumter, Suwannee, Walton, Washington and Wakulla.
Rockwall County, Texas received $2,398,836 for a consortium of 50 Texas counties. The counties participating in this consortium are: Anderson, Angelina, Bastrop, Brazoria, Burnet, Caldwell, Cameron, Cherokee, Coryell, Ellis, Fannin, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grayson, Gregg, Guadalupe, Harrison, Hale, Hardin, Hays, Henderson, Hidalgo, Hood, Hunt, Jefferson, Johnson, Kaufman, Kendall, Kerr, Lamar, Lampasas, Liberty, Navarro, Nueces, Orange, Parker, Potter, Randall, Rockwall, Rusk, San Patricio, Smith, Titus, Tom Green, Upshur, Val Verde, Victoria, Williamson, Wise and Wood.
Awards were previously announced for Arizona and Maryland. The Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the EASE 2 grant program was posted on grants.gov under H98210-13-BAA-0001 on May 10, 2013, and closed on June 25, 2013. The EASE 2 research grant program awarded a total of $10,531,898.
This completes the awards under the EASE 2 grant program.
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Please do not send comments directly to FVAP. For more information on FVAP or assistance with the absentee voting process, visit FVAP.gov for live chat assistance, call FVAP at 1-800-438-VOTE or DSN 425-1584 (CONUS)/312-425-1584 (OCONUS), or email vote@fvap.gov. Remember, you also can contact your unit or installation voting assistance officers for assistance during any step of the process.
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PDF version of FVAP News Release #19
