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Trenton
– The federal government released
a final audit today which concludes that
$64,514 in funds spent in 2004 and 2005
on two Hip-Hop Summits should be repaid
by the state. The summits were produced
to increase young voter registration and
participation in the presidential and gubernatorial
elections. New Jersey will repay the money.
The
money was disallowed in an audit by the
U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The
audit, which was released today by the commission,
reviewed the more than $84.9 million in
federal funds New Jersey received from 2003
through 2005 to implement the Help America
Vote Act of 2002, which is known as HAVA.
The bulk of the federal money was used to
purchase new voting machines and develop
voter outreach programs designed to increase
both registration and voting participation,
and create a new statewide voter registration
system.
The
two Hip-Hop summits, which were broadcast
live via the Internet, cost a total of $131,924
to produce. The federal audit disallowed
$38,929 in money spent for food and $25,585
in busing.
The
Election Assistance Commission is an independent,
bipartisan agency created by HAVA. It assists
state and local election administrators
in the administration of elections. The
agency distributes and monitors the use
of HAVA funds.
The
audit also asked the state for up-to-date
equipment inventories and certification
from the state of equipment maintenance
in the state’s 21 counties. The audit
also recommended further review of the apportionment
of salaries and fringe benefits to the state’s
HAVA account.
The
state has completed a full inventory of
equipment purchased with HAVA funds and
is implementing new policies and procedures
to track employee time and fringe benefits
spent on HAVA related activities, Attorney
General Stuart Rabner said. Full compliance
with the EAC recommendations is expected
in one week.
The
Hip-Hop Summits were organized by former
Attorney General Peter Harvey and held in
September 2004 before the presidential election
and in September 2005 before the gubernatorial
election. Approximately 2,000 students attended
the first summit and 4,000 attended the
second.
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