Election System Costs
Report on costs for
all makers of election equipment in the US: Price of
Voting, 2021
Report on structure
of the election equipment industry in the US: Business
of Voting, 2017
Independent
software to tally ballot images is available from:
·
Trachtenberg, Mitch
(2013) Democracy Counts
now used at https://electionstransparencyproject.com/news/
Free under open source license. It
reads HART Intercivic ballot formats in Humboldt County, CA, and would need a
skilled programmer to generalize it.
Contracts
to reanalyze images (sole source: CO & MD) |
||||
updated 3/24/2022 |
Contract Cost (excludes government staff cost) |
Number of ballots in elections shown |
Cost per
ballot sheet |
Sources. The numbers are also in a spreadsheet. |
Maryland, Clear Ballot |
Maryland costs include
contractor running software on its own equipment. Maryland 2019-2022 Scope
of Work, "cost of the audit does not
increase based on the number of ballots" Costs: pp.158-59 of bpw.maryland.gov/MeetingDocs/2020-Dec-02-Agenda.pdf Sole source justification and price analysis required by BPW Number of ballots: elections.maryland.gov/elections/2020/index.html
2022 ballots based on 2018,
since only 2% total population growth in 4 years https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MDPOP Reports: https://maryland.clearballot.com/ |
|||
2020-2022 totals |
$1,751,226 |
8,243,880 |
$0.21 |
|
2020 special
primary |
$ 45,063 |
84,298 |
$0.53 |
|
2020 special
general |
$ 45,063 |
151,718 |
$0.30 |
|
2020 primary |
$ 395,500 |
1,763,281 |
$0.22 |
|
2020 general |
$ 395,500 |
3,037,030 |
$0.13 |
|
2022 primary |
$ 435,050 |
872,305 |
$0.50 |
|
2022 general |
$ 435,050 |
2,335,248 |
$0.19 |
|
Maryland 2016
estimate |
|
|
$0.09 |
|
Colorado, Clear Ballot |
|
|||
Montrose County
2020 general Base Fee (in addition to per-ballot fee) |
$ 12,200 |
25,160 |
$0.48 |
Source 9/27/21 Order |
Fee based on number of ballots |
$ 6,290 |
25,160 |
$0.25 |
|
Total |
$ 18,490 |
25,160 |
$0.73 |
|
Contracts to re-scan & reanalyze |
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New York 100,000 registered voters Buy 1 small scanner & server & 3 days training, assume 12 year life
(3 Presidential elections) |
$ 64,900 |
750,000 total 12
years |
$0.09 |
2021-2026 online.ogs.ny.gov/purchase/spg/pdfdocs/2230023198PL_ClearBallot.xlsx and online.ogs.ny.gov/purchase/spg/pdfdocs/2230023198Contractorinfo.pdf
and online.ogs.ny.gov/purchase/spg/awards/2230023198CAN.HTM
Note: Costs per ballot drop with more
ballots. Over 12 years this in-house re-scan and reanalysis costs less than contractor
doing reanalysis in CO & MD. 4 million registered voters, with 30 million
ballots over 12 years, is comparable to entire state of MD. |
Annual maintenance/year (free 1st yr) |
$ 5,960 |
|||
Total 12 years |
$ 130,460 |
750,000 |
$0.17 |
|
New York 4,000,000 registered voters Buy 40 big
scanners, 4 servers & 42 days training, 12 year life |
$4,154,360 |
30,000,000 |
$0.14 |
|
Miami-Dade Florida, Clear Ballot Buy 1 server, 16 scanners & 10 days training, assume 12 year life
(3 Presidential elections) |
$879,387 |
8,790,828 total
12 years |
$0.10 |
Costs: http://votewell.net/miami2022cost.pdf Contract: http://votewell.net/miami2022terms.pdf Note: Miami pays more per registered voter
and per ballot than a New York county of the same size would, initially and
in annual maintenance. Direct comparisons are in the spreadsheet. |
Annual maintenance/year (free 1st yr) |
$163,536 |
|||
Total 12 years |
$2,678,283 |
8,790,828 |
$0.30 |