The Primary Election comes up shortly and several important races will be on the ballot. These include U.S. senate and state auditor. I encourage everyone to recognize the importance of voting and get to your precinct on Tuesday.
How can anyone be willing to forego the privilege of voting? It has always seemed thrilling to me to play my small part as a citizen, to make my investment in the future. Even when I thought my candidate would lose, I wanted him to lose by one less vote – my vote.
Whenever I cast my vote, I think of what It has cost. Because of the lives lost in our wars, I am not living in a concentration camp with cruel guards or being forced to speak a foreign language. Instead, the sacrifice of our brave service members has enabled me to just go very quietly and safely and cast my precious vote. I encourage everyone to vote on Tuesday because no one wields more power than you in the voting booth.
While we do enjoy the strongest and most successful democracy in history, we can always improve. That is why I was the first to co-sponsor legislation this past session to enhance the integrity of our election system in Missouri. HB 1878 is designed to ensure safe, secure elections with timely, accurate results. The legislation has now been signed into law.
HB 1878 will require Missourians to present a photo ID when they go to vote. The law also requires the use of hand-marked paper ballots rather than electronic voting machines, mandates the use of air-gapped election equipment that prevents the possibility of electronic manipulation, authorizes the Secretary of State to audit election results, and requires all election authorities or political subdivisions to have cybersecurity reviews.
The COVID pandemic has reminded us of the sheer power of the Internet in our daily lives. In various fields – education, commerce, and medicine, to name a few – we have learned that even when isolated physically we can still function as a society.
What is also clear is that too many Americans do not have access to the broadband technology necessary to take full advantage of the Internet. There are rural areas that do not have broadband in place. Even when broadband is available, some families simply can’t afford it. I wanted remind readers of recent developments will enable more Missourians to connect.
This year Missouri was awarded a $42.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for broadband expansion. The funds will be used for projects benefiting more than 13,000 households in 12 Missouri counties, including Butler.
For individual consumers, The Affordable Connectivity Program is an FCC benefit program that helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare and more.
The benefit provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to buy a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price. The Affordable Connectivity Program is limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household.
To enroll, simply go to AffordableConnectivity.gov to send an application or print out a mail-in application, then contact your preferred participating provider to select a plan and have the discount applied to your bill.
May God bless and keep you and our great nation.
Hardy Billington represents District 152, which includes parts of Butler and Dunklin counties.