Advisory vote carries extra cost
Brooks
An additional advisory vote on the May 19 ballot could push the ballot to two pages, doubling the cost of the election for Kootenai County residents, county officials say.
Proposed by Commissioner Bill Brooks, the advisory vote asks Kootenai County residents whether they support an Idaho Department of Correction’s re-entry center in North Idaho.
Tuesday’s presidential primary election cost the county $22,450. With an extra page, the election would have cost $44,900 for 50,000 ballots, said Finance Director Dena Darrow. May 19 will likely bring more voters to the polls, increasing the cost to the county.
Darrow warned that this is a conservative estimate and does not take into account other costs such as added time and labor, machine counting time and tabulation. She also stressed that every election is different, with variable costs dependent on the printing setup, printing content, card stock available, and projected voter turnout.
Party ballots in Kootenai County for the May 19 election will include candidates for U.S. senator, Idaho 1st District U.S. representative, one state Senate seat in each of the county’s three legislative districts, and two state representative seats in each of the county’s three legislative districts.
It will also include candidates for Kootenai County elected officials covering commissioner in District 1, commissioner in District 2, prosecuting attorney, sheriff, and precinct committeemen.
The ballots will also consist of nonpartisan elections and questions, incorporating an Idaho Supreme Court justice, a court of appeals judge, and levies, bonds and advisory votes.
The additional advisory vote could be the question that doubles the ballot cost for May 19, Darrow said.
“I don’t care if it would take a second page,” Brooks said. “This is something the voters of the county have a right to weigh in on.”
Each ballot, without the additional page, costs approximately 45 cents for the paper stock, shipping to printer, printing, and shipping to the county. Darrow stressed that this cost does not include additional labor to process multiple ballot pages, greater counting times, or a greater probability of damaged ballots during shipping.