Kevin J. Kennedy Director and General Counsel Wisconsin Government Accountability Board Wisconsin Election Cost Data Voting in America Conference 2012.

Kevin J. KennedyDirector and General CounselWisconsin Government Accountability Board

Wisconsin Election Cost Data

Voting in America Conference 2012The Price of Elections

Wisconsin Election Statistics

• 1,923 Jurisdictions– 72 Counties

– 1,851 Municipalities

• 3,541 Reporting Units (2012 General Election)

• 6,676 Wards

• Approximately 30,000 Election Inspectors (Poll

Workers) each election

2012 Wisconsin Statewide Elections

• April 3, 2012 – Presidential Preference and Spring Election

• May 8, 2012 – Recall Primary • June 5, 2012 – Recall Election • August 14, 2012 – Partisan Primary• November 6, 2012 – Presidential and

General Election*(cost data not yet available)

Wisconsin Election Costs Year-To-Date Training

1267658.00675%

Ballots3404704.3353

13%

Memory Devices310740.6874

1%

Programming2743131.1277

10%

Ballot Bags77482.4992

0%

Wages - Poll Workers and Board of Canvassers9189231.5292

34%

L.E.O. Staff7058692.2773

26%

Polling Place Rental117590.07

0%

Notices1053494.2218

4%

Polling Place Documents440144.0784

2%

Miscellaneous1430881.4932

5%

Wisconsin Election Costs Year-To-Date

Traini

ng

Ballot

s

Mem

ory

Device

s

Progr

amm

ing

Ballot

Bag

s

Wag

es -

Poll W

orke

rs a

nd B

oard

of C

anva

sser

s

L.E.O

. Sta

ff

Polling

Plac

e Ren

tal

Notice

s

Polling

Plac

e Doc

umen

ts

Misc

ellan

eous

$0.00

$500,000.00

$1,000,000.00

$1,500,000.00

$2,000,000.00

$2,500,000.00

$3,000,000.00

Year-To-Date Election Costs

2012 Presidential Preference and Spring Election 2012 May 8 Recall Primary Election

2012 June 5 Recall Election 2012 Partisan Primary

Wisconsin Year-To-Date Election CostsElection Year-To-Date Costs

2012 Presidential Preference and Spring Election

2012 May 8 Recall Primary

Election

2012 June 5 Recall Election

2012 Partisan Primary

Total Cost $27,093,750.32 $7,678,647.48 $6,311,580.64 $7,230,397.94 $5,873,124.27

Training $1,267,658.01 $655,381.63 $161,250.35 $250,225.28 $200,800.75

Ballots $3,404,704.34 $956,166.27 $724,960.33 $983,857.58 $739,720.16

Memory Devices $310,740.69 $90,508.12 $117,798.05 $55,924.82 $46,509.70

Programming $2,743,131.13 $773,679.55 $616,890.90 $600,951.93 $751,608.75

Ballot Bags $77,482.50 $16,219.14 $11,618.49 $10,791.22 $38,853.65

Wages - Poll Workers and Board of Canvassers $9,189,231.53 $2,296,011.84 $2,292,419.91 $2,568,884.85 $2,031,914.93

L.E.O. Staff $7,058,692.28 $1,920,863.97 $1,768,462.01 $1,978,093.77 $1,391,272.53

Polling Place Rental $117,590.07 $31,753.17 $29,188.45 $27,297.45 $29,351.00

Notices $1,053,494.22 $320,576.25 $242,821.27 $252,030.07 $238,066.64

Polling Place Documents $440,144.08 $148,522.09 $101,366.65 $97,442.97 $92,812.37

Miscellaneous $1,430,881.49 $468,965.46 $244,804.24 $404,898.01 $312,213.79

2012 Partisan Primary

Training9%

Ballots12%

Memory Devices1%

Programming10%

Ballot Bags0%

Wages - Poll Workers and Board of Canvassers

30%

L.E.O. Staff25%

Polling Place Rental0%

Notices4%

Polling Place Doc-uments

2%Miscellaneous

6%

2012 Presidential Preference and Spring Election Training

3%

Ballots11%

Memory Devices2%

Programming10%

Ballot Bags0%

Wages - Poll Workers and Board of Canvassers

36%L.E.O. Staff

28%

Polling Place Rental0%

Notices4%

Polling Place Documents2% Miscellaneous

4%

2012 May 8 Recall Primary Election

Training3%

Ballots14%

Memory Devices1%

Programming8%

Ballot Bags0%

Wages - Poll Workers and Board of Canvassers

36%

L.E.O. Staff27%

Polling Place Rental

0%

Notices3%

Polling Place Documents

1%

Miscellaneous6%

2012 June 5 Recall ElectionTraining

3%

Ballots13%

Memory Devices1%

Programming13%

Ballot Bags1%

Wages - Poll Workers and Board of Canvassers

35%

L.E.O. Staff24%

Polling Place Rental

0%

Notices4%

Polling Place Documents2%

Miscellaneous5%

2012 Partisan Primary

Wisconsin Voter Turnout General Elections

Year and Election Voting Age Population (VAP)

Votes Cast Percentage of VAP Voting

2012 General** 4,378,741 3,071,434 70.1%

2012 Recall* 4,378,741 2,516,371 57.4%

2010 General 4,372347 2,171,331 49.7%

2008 General 4,330,695 2,996,869 69.2%

2006 General 4,260,038 2,166,671 50.9%

2004 General 4,118,621 3,016,288 72.9%

2002 General 4,060,973 1,785,710 44.0%

2000 General 3,908,533 2,619,184 67.0%

*2012 June 5 Recall Election included with General Elections** 2012 Presidential and General Election Votes and Turnout based on official results for the office of President of the United States

Wisconsin Voter Turnout Partisan Primary Elections

Year and Election Voting Age Population (VAP)

Votes Cast Percentage of VAP Voting

2012 Partisan Primary 4,378,741 851,572 19.4%

2012 Recall Primary* 4,378,741 1,360,750 31.0%

2010 Partisan Primary 4,372,347 857,027 19.6%

2008 Partisan Primary 4,330,695 388,079 8.9%

2006 Partisan Primary 4,260,038 615,944 14.5%

2004 Partisan Primary 4,118,621 686,546 16.7%

2002 Partisan Primary 4,060,973 913,523 22.5%

2000 Partisan Primary 3,908,533 406,665 10.4%

*2012 May 8 Recall Primary Election included with Partisan Primary Elections

Wisconsin Voter Turnout Presidential Preference Elections

Year and Election Voting Age Population (VAP)

Votes Cast Percentage of VAP Voting

2012 Presidential Preference 4,378,741 1,144,351 26.1%

2008 Presidential Preference 4,330,695 1,511,639 34.9%

2004 Presidential Preference 4,118,621 992,242 24.1%

2000 Presidential Preference 3,908,533 866,965 22.2%

Wisconsin Voter Turnout Spring Elections (w/o Pres. Pref.)Year and Election Voting Age

Population (VAP)Votes Cast Percentage of VAP

Voting

2011 Spring Election 4,372,347 1,524,528 34.8%

2010 Spring Election 4,372,347 574,130 13.1%

2009 Spring Election 4,354,717 793,864 18.2%

2008 Spring Election 4,294,976 830,450 19.3%

2007 Spring Election 4,294,976 831,657 19.3%

2006 Spring Election 4,260,038 502,688 11.8%

2005 Spring Election 4,220,645 723,623 17.1%

2004 No Statewide Election

2003 Spring Election 4,088,085 814,641 19.9%

2002 No Statewide Election

2001 Spring Election 4,021,482 552,549 13.7%

2000 Spring Election 3,908,533 817,749 20.9%

Wisconsin Election Cost Data - Lessons Learned

• Difficult to collect data from 1,923 jurisdictions– 72 Counties– 190 Cities– 406 Villages– 1,255 Towns

• Approximately 62 percent of Municipal Clerks are Part-Time

• All 72 County Clerks are Elected

Wisconsin Election Cost Data - Lessons Learned

• Define cost categories in clear detail– Without clear instructions, categories can be

interpreted differently– Provided clerks with three pages of instructions

• 2011 cost estimates versus 2012 cost data– Total costs were similar, but major differences

within categories– Estimates did not separate poll worker wages

from L.E.O. Staff costs for municipalities– Categories for counties and municipalities were

different

Wisconsin Election Cost Data - Lessons Learned

• Fixed Costs– Notices– Polling place rental

• Variable Costs– Ballots (including absentee

costs)– Programming electronic voting

equipment

• Each Election– Poll worker wages– Ballots

• Annually– Purchasing voting equipment

or memory devices– Training– L.E.O. Staff

• Determining the frequency and timing of collection election cost data

Wisconsin Election Cost Data - Lessons Learned

• Elections costs provide a valuable tool– Policy change analysis– Performance management– Budgeting – Identifying potential cost savings

Kevin J. KennedyDirector and General Counsel

[email protected]

(608) 261-8683

Brian M. Bell, M.P.A.Election Data Manager

[email protected]

(608) 261-2011

Wisconsin Government Accountability BoardHomepage: http://gab.wi.govStatistics: http://gab.wi.gov/elections-voting/statistics