Officials in Morgantown are debating whether the higher than expected cost of West Virginia’s first vote-by-mail election was worth it. Finance Director J.R. Sabatelli tells the Dominion Post the total tally was $33,386, more than twice what the city anticipated.
Councilman Ron Bane says money was wasted on people who didn’t vote. But City Clerk Linda Little says the experiment more than doubled voter turnout and reduced per-voter costs.
Little says 3,699 voters cast ballots this year, compared with 1,497 in 2009. The cost per voter was $9.03, compared with $10.25 in 2009.
Secretary of State spokesman Jake Glance says the city’s focus should be on the $1.22 savings per voter.
But Bane says about 12,000 of the 16,000 ballots weren’t cast, and that means the city wasted $25,000.
Full Article: Voting by mail costs Morgantown twice as much; debate begins on whether it was worth it.