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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-18-94 - VIII-D t 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Action Agenda Item No V AU ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 18, 1994 SUBJECT: Voter Registration Grant Proposal DEPARTMENT: Elections PUBLIC HEARING YES NO x ATTACHMENT(S) : INFORMATION CONTACT Grant Application Bobbie Strickland, ext 2350 TELEPHONE NUMBER Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Mebane 227-2031 Durham 688-7331 PURPOSE: To approve a grant proposal to help implement the National Voter Registration Act. BACKGROUND: During its 1994 Session, the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $1 million to assist counties with implementation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which takes effect on January 1, 1995. Staff have prepared, and the Board of Elections has approved, a grant proposal for $22,800 that would create a local area network in the Elections office to increase the efficiency with which voter registations are processed and assist the Elections staff in preparing and producing the State mandated reports associated with the new legislation. No matching County funds are required for this grant. The grant proposal has already been submitted to the State Board of Elections in order to meet an October 10 submission deadline. The grant program provides that 25% of grant funds will be disbursed to agencies, other than the Board of Elections, which are required under the new law to assist with voter registration, although the Board of Commissioners can waive this requirement. In Orange County, these agencies include the Social Services and Health Departments, which are not submitting separate applications for funding. However, the County' s grant proposal envisions connections between the proposed Elections computer network and the existing Master Client Index human service computer network so that voter registration information can be managed effectively and accessed by DSS and Health as well as by Elections. Board action on this item would confirm the County' s desire to apply for State funds for the Elections local area network and authorize staff to proceed with implementation if the grant proposal is approved by the State Board of Elections. Grant awards will be made by the end of October. RECOMMENDATION: The Manager recommends that the Board approve the grant if it is awarded by the State, and authorize the Chair to execute any grant documents required to receive the funds. 2 State of North Carolina Voter Registration Grants Application County Orange Phone Number (919) 732-8181 Ext. 2351 Contact Person Bobbi Strickland Title Supervisor of Elections Mailing Address PO Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 1. Amount of Request $ 22,800 2. Itemization of Request County Board of Elections Local Agencies Personal Services $ 0 $ 0 Supplies $ 800 $ 0 Operating Expenses $ 0 $ 0 Equipment $ 22,000 $ 0 3. Plan of Implementation (Continue on back of page) To implement the National Voter Registration Act, the Orange County Board of Elections must upgrade the existing computer equipment. Currently in our office we have three 286 computers connected to a dot matrix printer. Clearly if we are going to maintain the data required by the State for the quarterly reports, we must upgrade the existing computers. To generate the verification required by the act, we must also upgrade our printer. We are a small office with 3 1/2 full time equivalent positions (4 employees). Each individual is trained to do all aspects of our election responsibilities. We do not dedicate one position to process voter registrations, but at any given time, each one of us is responsible for this work. Because of this, we are proposing that we install a local area network connecting all four employees into a central file server. This 3 allows each Election office worker to access the voter registration data base from their workstation. The attached outlines the cost for the network. Included in the system's price are funds to provide software for maintaining the database and also word processing software for notifying registrants. We are at this point unsure if we will be able to find off the shelf software to accommodate our needs. If we are unable to buy software we will need to have a consultant write a D-Base application for us. In either case, we have included $3,000 in our grant proposal to cover the cost of all software and licensing. We have also included $800 for miscellaneous supplies, including two file cabinets (at $150 each), file folders and supplies ($200), and 10 back-up tapes for our network (at $30 each). The Departments of Health and Social Services do not intend to submit an application for funding. 4 Budget for Board of Elections — Voter Registration Grant Application Network: Network Server $3,040 486 DX-2 66/16 mg RAM, monochrome monitor, dual floppies, 1.2 G.B. SCI Hard Drive, CD Rom, Audio CCard/ Network Interface Card (NIC) Workstations (4) $5,360 486 DX2/66 8 meg RAM, NIC 1,340 each Novell Software 5 User $500 Miscellaneous Software (Each Workstation/Server — $600 ) $3,000 Network Supplies (Cable, Hub) $600 Laser Printer $1,500 Connection to Data Processing Building Remote Router/Hub $8,000 Total Automation $22,000 Other: 2 file Cabinets 300 Miscellaneous Printing/Office Supplies 500 Total Grant Application $22,800 1 5 .., cir - --. 0 000 0 i o 0 _ ft 000 0 0 0 a) EF> •te• 69. Ea CY)-- col iz:a V:). a) a) .-- , 0 00 00 0 co ko. o o co co 00 •::t. 0 o 0 a) .69- (4). .69- (NT co I • I`-- CI CI) •--- CT) Q1 ,- p - I:: 0 00 0 o 0 o 0 .- 69. 00 co co ,a 0., 4.... a) ci:) ka ift zi; Z I co (1) c-is. 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