LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session May 8, 2001 TO: Honorable Florence Shapiro, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB1599 by Danburg (Relating to certain procedures for counting and recounting voting system ballots.), As Engrossed ************************************************************************** * No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would require election officials to examine electronic voting system ballots for irregular marks prior to conducting an automatic ballot count. A sampling of election administrators and county clerks were surveyed regarding the fiscal impact of the provisions of the bill. Their responses indicate that electronic equipment currently being used automatically rejects ballots that are defective. If election officials are required to manually examine all ballots before submitting them for automatic counting, election costs would be increased by 14 to 20 percent. Source Agencies: 307 Secretary of State LBB Staff: JK, RB, SK, DW