FISCAL NOTE, 87TH LEGISLATURE 2nd CALLED SESSION 2021
September 1, 2021
TO:
Honorable Bryan Hughes, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB97 by Bettencourt (relating to processes to address election irregularities; providing a civil penalty.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require the Secretary of State (SOS) to create and implement an audit process to address requests submitted to the SOS by a requestor not satisfied with a county clerk response regarding election irregularities. As part of this process, the SOS would be required to review such a request and determine whether the county clerk provided a sufficient response. If the response is determined to be insufficient, the SOS would be required to immediately audit the identified irregularity at the county's expense. The bill would also require the SOS to determine an acceptable margin of error for the 2020 election results county review process.
It is assumed that duties and responsibilities with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished utilizing exiting resources.
Local Government Impact
While the bill may have a significant impact on local election officials; including having to incur costs associated with reviewing and responding to election irregularity related requests, cooperating with the SOS and being responsible for the cost of an audit, and reviewing and acting on requests for a review of the 2020 election results; the fiscal impact to units of local government cannot be determined due to not knowing the volume of potential future requests and any response to such requests.