April 29, 2016

A new online tool tracking elections costs was released by the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials (CACEO) that will be very helpful in the elections reform conversations by clearly tracking and illustrating elections costs by county. This information provides comparison data plus transparency on election costs. The data set includes a county-by-county breakdown for statewide primary, general and special elections dating back to 2004. It also features historical trend data on overall costs and trends of ballot complexity.

Overall, it’s a big year for elections. California voters will cast their ballots for contests ranging from U.S. President and Senate to local district board of directors. Voters will also face what is shaping up to be a lengthy list of ballot measures this fall – potentially as many as 20 by some counts – due to recent reforms that require all petition initiatives to be saved for statewide general elections.

Counties administer elections for all levels of government, and treat that role with the gravitas and expertise it demands. This year, with the presidential primary is still in play and an increasingly long slate of incoming ballot initiatives in need of signature verification, county elections officials are deploying all available resources to manage these unexpected demands.

CSAC supported AB 120 (Committee on Budget) appropriates $16 million in emergency one-time funding for these urgent needs. This bill, amended late last week to address elections funding, moved quickly through the Legislature and is headed to the Governor’s Desk. (See our Lead Story)

While the appropriation included in AB 120 is very welcome, there are larger issues related to elections cost pressures. The biggest concern comes from elections equipment and systems rapidly approaching their useful shelf-life. Big picture reform efforts, such as CSAC supported Senate Bill 450 (Allen) would provide a Colorado-style model of all-mail ballot elections with voting centers and help stem future costs but not until at least the 2018 election cycle and only for a handful of counties at first. Other measures, such as Assembly Bill 2686 (Mullin), would expand all-mail ballot elections for certain legislative and congressional special elections. This could result in greater savings, efficiency and even better turn out. But for this election cycle counties will still have to cope with unfunded special elections to fill legislative or congressional vacancies. Counties haven’t received state assistance for special elections since 2007. In addition, the state suspended several elections mandates that are central to the voting process in 2011, which comes to nearly $80 million each year statewide. CSAC is engaging with the Department of Finance and Legislative Analyst’s Office to determine if a new mechanism can provide reimbursement in a more timely, reliable manner. CSAC is hopeful the voter interest in this election cycle will help drive the Legislature to achieve long-sought solutions for elections funding.