Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander announced today a three million dollar grant for new voting machines and other election assistance throughout the state.

“I’m glad our office is going to be able to help counties buy some of the equipment they need,” Secretary Kander said this morning.

This funding is important now as the federal funding from the 2002 Help America Vote Act runs out. With this new grant counties will be able to continue their work of mailing and canvassing voters to keep voter information current, along with replacing and adding new voting machines as needed.

“It’s coming at a great time to get them prepared for November 2016,” Laura Swinford, Communications Director for the Secretary of State, said. "When you're mailing thousands and thousands of voters to confirm that they're still at the same address, you know that all costs money, the printing, the postage, all that. So, we are happy to help with those efforts for general election assistance."

This is a noncompetitive grant, meaning that county clerks will have to apply for the funding, but the money can be used to help all 116 county clerks across Missouri get ready for November 2016.