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VERMONT SECRETARY OF STATE - Jim Condos | |||||||
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April 2010 Press Releases
Secretary of
State to present the 2010 Vermont Public Service Awards for Chittenden
County - April 22, 2010 Secretary of State
Awards $87,000 in Grants to Vermont Towns
- April 21, 2010 April 22, 2010 Contact: Ginny Colbert, 802-828-2148 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Secretary of State Deb Markowitz to Present the 2010 Vermont Public Service Awards Over 80 Chittenden County municipal officials to be honored. South Burlington. Secretary of State Deb Markowitz will be presenting the 2010 Vermont Public Service Awards at a ceremony on Friday, April 23, 4:30 p.m., at the South Burlington High School auditorium on Dorset Street. This program, which began in 2000, honors municipal officials who have served their communities for 20 years or longer. Over 80 officials from Jericho, Milton, Saint George, Shelburne, South Burlington, and Williston will be receiving awards this year. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about the Vermont Public Service Awards visit http://www.sec.state.vt.us/municipal/fame.htm ### April 21, 2010 _____________________________________________________________________ Secretary of State Awards $87,000 in Grants to Vermont Towns Grants are Awarded to Improve Access to Voting in Vermont Montpelier. Today, Secretary of State Deb Markowitz announced that over $87,000 in grants were awarded to 19 municipalities to help them to continue to meet the mandates of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which was signed into law on October 29, 2002. HAVA provides opportunities for municipalities to improve the administration and access to elections in Vermont. As Vermont’s chief election officer, the Secretary of State oversees this process. This year grants in amounts of up to $7,000 will be used by municipalities to improve accessibility to polling places used for the primary and general elections. Since the program began, the Secretary of State’s Office has awarded 136 grants totaling $634,289.72. Markowitz said, “This round of grants is intended to help ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to polling places. Funds may be used for improvements such as paving parking areas, building ramps, and improving lighting.” Most of the costs for meeting the mandates of HAVA have been borne by the Secretary of State’s office. In 2004, the Secretary of State’s office received $16.6 million dollars in federal funds to help Vermont implement HAVA. Markowitz said, “We have been very careful in our spending of this federal money which has enabled us to create an election trust fund so that now, and into the future, we can ensure that the costs of meeting the many new federal mandates created by HAVA will not be shifted to the municipalities of Vermont.” Markowitz added, “We were pleased that the legislature permitted us to establish this grant program to help our municipalities cover some of the incidental costs of the federal election reform mandates.” For more information on the Help America Vote Act, go to the Secretary of State’s website at http://vermont-elections.org/elections1/hava.html.
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