LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session April 18, 2001 TO: Honorable Debra Danburg, Chair, House Committee on Elections FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB709 by Danburg (Relating to the maximum number of registered voters an election precinct may contain in certain counties.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would change the parameters for determining the maximum number of registered voters allowed per election precinct. A county with a population of less than 400,000 would be limited to 3,000 registered voters per precinct and a county with a population of more than 400,000 would be limited to 6,000 registered voters per precinct. The provisions of the bill would also prohibit a county election precinct that is larger than 200 square miles from combining with an adjacent precinct for the purpose of reaching the maximum number of registered voters a precinct may contain. If the number of registered voters per precinct were to change and result in a reduction in the number of precincts a county may have, the county would experience a cost savings by reducing the number of precincts requiring equipment and staff for each election. However, if the number of registered voters were to increase thereby requiring the establishment of additional precincts, the county would incur costs for establishing new precincts, which include a one-time cost of purchasing four voting machines at $3,500 each and salaries of staff to oversee proceedings at each additional precinct for each election. Source Agencies: LBB Staff: JK, TB, DB