Established Fact
Detroit received $7,436,450 from CTCL for the 2020 election — by far the largest grant in Michigan — which funded 23 satellite voting centers, 30 dedicated drop-box sites, and a near-tripling of poll-worker pay from $175 to $500 per day. City Clerk Janice Winfrey stated that “pretty much all” of the behind-the-scenes operational changes for November were funded by the CTCL grant, with the satellite centers and drop boxes operational from October 5 through Election Day. Muskegon received $433,580 from CTCL, a portion of which was used to purchase a mobile voting trailer deployed to specific neighborhoods — including senior housing towers and community centers — allowing residents to register and cast absentee ballots near their homes without visiting City Hall. These programs, driven by private grant funding and implemented through public election offices, directed materially expanded voting infrastructure into the urban cores of heavily Democratic Michigan cities, producing a geographic distribution of election services that critics argued reflected demographic and political preferences rather than neutral administrative need.
Citations
Capital Research Center, CTCL Michigan Updated Data Set from Form 990CTCL Michigan Updated Data Set from Form 990 (spreadsheet based on CTCL’s IRS Form 990 disclosures): Detroit grant total — $7,436,450; Muskegon — $433,580. Available at: https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/CTCL-Michigan-Updated-Data-Set-from-990.xlsx. Poll-worker pay increase: ClickOnDetroit/WDIV, “Detroit creates 23 satellite voting centers, deploys 10,000 poll workers with major pay raise” (Oct. 5, 2020): “Thanks to a grant, they’ll be paid more than in years past — from $175 per day to $500 per day.” Available at: https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/10/05/detroit-creates-23-satellite-voting-centers-deploys-10000-poll-workers-with-major-pay-raise/. Note: Press coverage (BridgeDetroit, Oct. 2020) cited the total as “$7.2 million”; the Form 990 figure of $7,436,450 reflects the complete disbursement amount
BridgeDetroit, Louis Aguilar, “Who is paying for Detroit’s revamped November election?” (Oct. 30, 2020): “‘Pretty much all’ of those behind-the-scenes changes were funded by $7.2 million in grants from the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life, Winfrey said… ‘Those grants were key,’ she said.” Infrastructure: “Detroit opened 23 satellite voting offices and 39 ballot drop boxes on Oct. 5.” Official City of Detroit flyer (Oct. 2020) confirms “30 Drop Box Sites and 23 Satellite Vote Centers.” Available at: https://www.bridgedetroit.com/who-is-paying-for-detroits-revamped-november-election/ ; City of Detroit flyer: https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitmi.localhost/files/2020-10/2020%20Vote%20Centers%20and%20Drop%20Boxes%20Flyer%20.pdf. Note: The passage’s “14 satellite centers” reflects an early planning figure from September 2020 (Electionline Weekly); the operational total was 23. No public source establishes that the satellite-center or drop-box counts were formal CTCL grant conditions rather than city choices funded by the grant.
Fox 17 (WXMI), Angeline McCall, “New mobile voting trailer in Muskegon” (Oct. 9, 2020): “The city received a grant for election administration and used a portion of the funds to purchase a mobile voting trailer. The trailer allows local election officials to travel into various communities in Muskegon and urge voters to register and allow them to submit an absentee ballot… allowing residents to register and vote near their homes without stepping foot into city hall.” City Clerk Ann Meisch: “I actually had a lot of excitement about getting to the senior high rises that we have around here.” Deployment schedule included Jefferson Towers, Bayview Towers, Hartford Terrace, and other neighborhood sites. Available at: https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/lakeshore/muskegon/new-mobile-voting-trailer-in-muskegon . Grant amount ($433,580): CRC Michigan spreadsheet, supra fn. 1. Note: The trailer’s documented function was absentee ballot issuance and voter registration — no source describes it as branded “Get-Out-The-Vote” infrastructure; that is the passage author’s characterization of its function.