According to the Center for Tech and Civic Life website:
At the TED 2022 conference today, the Center for Tech and Civic Life announced it is launching a new program, the nonpartisan U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, that is open to every election department in the nation. The Alliance is bringing together bipartisan election officials to rally around a set of common values and standards, support each other, and keep their skills fresh.
In 2020, CTCL distributed nearly $350 million in grants to local election departments to administer safe elections. During that program, it became clear that U.S. local election departments remain woefully unsupported. One small jurisdiction reported not being able to replace century-old tabulators until receiving a CTCL grant. Many also still struggled to maintain modern websites with easy-to-find information for voters. The Alliance is a response to feedback from local election officials and their needs after the 2020 program.
The U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence is a program launched in 2022 by the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) to support local election departments. The U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence is an $80 million, five-year program funded by the TED initiative The Audacious Project.
CTCL executive director Tiana Epps-Johnson introduced the program at the TED conference on April 11, 2022. Watch the video below:
The Alliance is a nonpartisan collaborative that is bringing together election officials, designers, technologists, and other experts to help local election departments improve operations, develop a set of shared standards and values, and obtain access to best-in-class resources to run successful elections.
The Alliance is designed by local election departments, for local election departments because they know how challenging it has become to lead fair, voter-centric, and trustworthy elections. The goal is to alleviate pressure, celebrate local election departments, and provide support to those supporting our democracy. They listed the following finalists for the 2023 Centers for Election Excellence cohort:
- Coconino County, Arizona
- Boone County, Missouri
- Scotland County, Missouri
- Contra Costa County, California
- Shasta County, California
- Kane County, Illinois
- Macoupin County, Illinois
- Ottawa County, Michigan
- Clark County, Nevada
- Brunswick County, North Carolina
- Forsyth County, North Carolina
- Cache County, Utah
- Weber County, Utah
- Madison, Wisconsin
- DeKalb County, Georgia
What is the status of each and for how much? We contacted them today initially to find out and will be updating this story as more information becomes available.