Polling locations in Lehigh and Northampton counties are being funded by the Election Integrity Grant — created in 2022 — which is distributed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, the Election Integrity Grant Program Guidance document amends the PA Election Code to permit the Election Integrity Grant Program to distribute grant annual funds to counties and support county election administration.
The amount of grant funding each county receives is calculated by “the total amount of funding appropriated, multiplied by the quotient of the county’s total number of registered voters as of the most recent primary, divided by the total number of registered voters in all counties,” according to the program guidance document.
The document explains that the grant can be used for staff training, printing of ballots, payment of staff who pre-canvass and canvass mail-in and absentee ballots and other expenses related to elections.
Applications can be submitted between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15, and if approved, counties can receive funding from the Department of Community and Economic Development.
Chris Commini, the elections registrar for Northampton County, said their polling locations are entirely funded by this grant. He said counties have to reapply for the grant each year.
Tim Benyo, the chief clerk for registration and elections in Lehigh County, said the grant and the county’s budget fund the polling locations.
“(The Grant) has helped to fund a lot of stuff that we were lacking because the county just couldn’t afford to buy them,” Benyo said.
According to an email from the Department of Community and Economic Development sent to The Brown and White, Pennsylvania allocates $45 million each year in support of the Election Integrity Grant program. This money is then divided between the Pennsylvania counties based on the number of registered voters at the date of the previous primary election.
According to a document provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Northampton County receives $1,153,141.01 and Lehigh County receives $1,273,367.04 from the grant.
Benyo said the grant has been a tremendous help during this election cycle, putting Lehigh County in a much stronger position than it was in during the 2020 presidential election.
While the grant didn’t exist in 2020, the county budget for the 2020 election was $1,592,100, according to the Northampton County 2022 budget summary.
Benyo said before the implementation of the grant, counties were responsible for covering all election-related expenses, regardless of whether the elections were at the state or federal level.
He said Lehigh and Northampton counties use their Election Integrity Grants to rent their polling locations for election days.t.
“(Polling places) are usually government buildings or schools or organizations or companies,” Benyo said. “There are laws that determine how we pick them and what buildings we shouldn’t use.”
Lehigh County tries to rent all the locations for the same price, but sometimes this varies, Benyo said.
He said the rent is received by property owners, and the county provides polling center materials from their grant or budget.
Commini said polling location funding is based on size and estimated voter count for Northampton County.
“It’s a nominal fee, so it’s nothing that’s set,” Commini said. “It could vary across different polling locations.”
He said many of the older polling locations continue to receive funding as they did under the county budget, and the county doesn’t adjust the amount for older sites even when new locations are added.
According to the polling location map on the Northampton County elections homepage, many Lehigh students vote at the Banana Factory on the South Side.
Unlike other polling locations, Northampton County uses the Banana Factory for free.
Steve Ott, the vice president of operations and external projects for ArtsQuest, said although the county has a contract with the Banana Factory, the site is free and community-based.
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