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:

Clear Ballot (2022) https://www.clearballot.com/verifynow?hsLang=en
AuditEngine (2022) https://auditengine.org/

· 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.

OpenCount at Free & Fair. (2018) "Open and Free Election Technology" previously used at UCSD
OSET Institute. (2022 under development) https://www.osetfoundation.org/what
The MD justification for a sole source contract lists other software companies which looked into developing such software.

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	Source: https://www.elections.maryland.gov/press_room/documents/Post%20Election%20Tabulation%20Audit%20Pilot%20Program%20Report.pdf
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
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 1^st 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 1^st yr)	$163,536
Total 12 years	$2,678,283	8,790,828	$0.30