Area counties will receive thousands of dollars in additional funding from the Elections Support Fund to help pay for elections, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has announced.

Statewide, Mississippi’s 82 counties will receive an $1,018,484 in funds, according to a press release from Hosemann’s office.

In the local area, Lincoln County will receive $11,968.32; Copiah County, $10,107.97; Franklin, $2,786.39; and Lawrence, $4,437.71.

“The Elections Support Fund allows Mississippi to decrease its dependence on federal funding in our state’s elections process,” Hosemann said in the press release.

“Lean budget times should not hinder our right to vote,” he added.

For the last several years, Mississippi counties have relied heavily on federal funding from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to fund a majority of election costs.

With HAVA funds depleted, the Mississippi Legislature created the Election Support Fund from money generated by annual report filings from out-of-state Limited Liability Companies.

“These funds will assist counties in conducting elections across the state,” said Hosemann. “I am pleased the legislature has found an effective way to get the counties the money they need.”

Allocations from the Election Support Fund are distributed annually to each Mississippi county and may be used for, “the purpose of acquiring, upgrading, maintaining or repairing voting equipment, systems and supplies, hiring technical support and training election officials,” according to the press release.

Funds are proportionately distributed by population figures released by the United States Census Bureau, as required by state law.