LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 78TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 16, 2003

TO:
Honorable Mary Denny, Chair, House Committee on Elections
 
FROM:
John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB3119 by Alonzo (Relating to the registration of voters at a polling place and related procedures.), As Introduced



Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB3119, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($664,437) through the biennium ending August 31, 2005.



Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2004 ($664,437)
2005 $0
2006 ($664,437)
2007 $0
2008 ($664,437)




Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from
GENERAL REVENUE FUND
1
2004 ($664,437)
2005 $0
2006 ($664,437)
2007 $0
2008 ($664,437)

Fiscal Analysis

This bill allows voters, by following certain procedures, to register to vote at polling places on election days.   

Methodology

In order to implement the provisions of this bill the Secretary of State (SOS) anticipates the need for additional election workers in polling places to manage the anticipated increase volume of voters and increased processing time involved with these new procedures. 

SOS anticipates needing an additional election worker in half of the polling places for primary elections (11,363 polls x $5.15 per hour for 14 hours/2) and in half of the polling places during runoff elections (7,068 polls x $5.15 per hour for 14 hours/2) for a total of $664,437 a fiscal year. 


Local Government Impact

There would be considerable costs to county elections offices to implement the provisions of the bill.  The Tom Green County elections administrator reported that, at a minimum, the office would have to spend more on ballots, hold more training for election judges, and hire additional workers to staff polling locations. There would also possibly be telecommunications costs to try to prevent voter fraud throughout the county. Tom Green County estimated that it would have to spend a minimum of $5,000 more per election to implement the provisions of the bill.

 

The Victoria County elections administrator reported that the elections office would have to hire more polling personnel to process registration paperwork, which would result in higher training costs. Also, training would have to become more detailed and specialized to deal with walk-up registration, and personnel would have to communicate with one another at different polling places to try to prevent voter fraud.  The Victoria County elections administrator estimated additional personnel costs of up to 20 percent.

 

The Guadalupe County elections administrator reported that a separate processing line for walk-up voter registration would necessitate "twice the people, twice the supplies," and, possibly, "twice the locations." Implementing the provisions of the bill could double the costs of elections in Guadalupe County.

The Webb County elections administrator reported that the provisions of the bill would require additional personnel available at every polling place, at an additional cost of approximately $7,000. This represents a 25 percent increase in operating expenses for the county.



Source Agencies:
307 Secretary of State
LBB Staff:
JK, GO, KG, JF