TO: | Honorable Mary Denny, Chair, House Committee on Elections |
FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | HB441 by Raymond (Relating to authorizing the period for early voting by personal appearance to be increased.), As Introduced |
Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
---|---|
2004 | ($286,454) |
2005 | $0 |
2006 | ($286,454) |
2007 | $0 |
2008 | ($286,454) |
Fiscal Year | Probable Savings/(Cost) fromGENERAL REVENUE FUND 1 |
---|---|
2004 | ($286,454) |
2005 | $0 |
2006 | ($286,454) |
2007 | $0 |
2008 | ($286,454) |
This bill increases the early voting by personal appearance period to begin as early as 31 days prior to election day, but no later than 17 days before election day.
There would be significant costs to local governments to implement the bill, if they chose to do so.
The Bexar County elections administrator reported that they pay a combined total of $25 per hour for one elections judge and three elections clerks. The average number of hours for early voting is 132. With approximately 35 early voting sites in Bexar County, the cost for one election would be $115,500, or approximately $577,500 over five years. Early voting for two primary elections would increase the estimate to $807,500. Additional costs for ballots, supplies, and logistics costs would increase the estimate to $900,000.
The Fort Bend County elections administrator reported that implementing the bill would cost the county $75,000 per year, and $375,000 over five years. The El Paso County elections administrator reported that implementing the bill would cost the county $5,000 per additional day of early voting, for an approximate cost of $70,000 per election. The Victoria County elections administrator reported that the normal cost of $8,000 to $12,000 per early voting session would increase by $4,000 to $6,000 per session.
Source Agencies: | 307 Secretary Of State
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LBB Staff: | JK, GO, MS, JF, KG, CJ
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