(Ripley County, IN) – Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales personally presented a $13,678 Local Election Improvement Grant to Ripley County (pictured) on Monday.

He also stopped in Ohio, Switzerland and Shelby counties.

Since the beginning of the year, Morales has awarded grants to more than 75 counties in Indiana for local election security, protection and voter outreach projects.

The counties receive grants from the federal Help America Vote Act to improve local elections and increase security.

The value of this new round of statewide grants is approximately $1 million.

Previous funds have been used for a variety of improvements, such as voter canvassing, additional signage, security improvements and more. Many districts introduced elections
Improvements to the primaries.

“We started before sunrise the day before and headed to Southeast Indiana. By distributing these Election Improvement Grants to counties across our state, we are investing in the tools and resources
necessary to improve the integrity and efficiency of our elections. I am very pleased to deliver these funds directly to our local counties to ensure safe elections for Hoosiers
State,” Morales said.

He urges all eligible Indiana residents to register to vote before the October 7th registration deadline and to cast their vote on November 5th.

While in Ripley County, Morales visited County Clerk Liz Baumgartner and her staff to thank them and offer assistance for the upcoming general election.