The recent primary election chalked up a first: An unheard of cost. Every ballot cast because of the new bifurcated voting system cost taxpayers $14,867. State law says a voter can’t vote in state elections until or unless they can prove they are a United States citizen. The federal registration form does not require proof of citizenship. It asks only that the person swear upon penalty of perjury that they are indeed a US citizen. For the feds, that’s enough. For the state, it’s not. However, the federal courts have ruled that the voters who use the federal form will be allowed to vote for federal offices even if they are barred from voting for state and local officials. So during the primary election, Pima County elections officials had to print separate ballots for those who used the federal form to register. That turned out to be for five different parties, even if there were no candidates for a federal office.
And it had to print enough to deliver to 288 precincts. The final cost for all of those ballots was $104,068. Seven voters used the ballots, four Republicans and three Democrats. That breaks down to $14,867 per ballot cast.
“Well certainly, elections can be a little expensive and the cost per ballot cast can be high at times,” Pima County elections director Brad Nelson said. “But never this high before.”
And there will be a repeat during the general election on Nov. 4, although the cost won’t be as high because Nelson will only have to print ballots for the major parties.
Full Article: $15,000 cost for one ballot – Tucson News Now.