It cost Lake County roughly $10 for each ballot cast in May’s primary election, where voter turnout was just 12.38 percent, the lowest turnout in years. Michelle Fajman, director of the Lake County Board of Elections and Voters Registration, said it costs about $500,000 to conduct a county-wide election, be it a primary or general election, regardless how many voters exercise their right to vote. Before the year is over, the county will spend close to $1 million on the primary and general election cycle. “It basically costs the same whether we have a huge turnout or not,” Fajman said. Costs are relatively static for elections and cannot be reduced just because a low voter turnout is expected. It cost close to $500,000 for the last presidential primary election in 2012 where voter turnout was 60.59 percent. That translates to roughly $2.40 per ballot cast.
Of the 348,664 registered voters in Lake County, only 39,179 made it out to the polls election day. Another 5,538 filed absentee ballots and four provisional ballots were counted.
Bills so far for the May primary total about $453,300 and a few more are still expected.
Cost for Election Day workers at the polls only was about $279,000 for the roughly 2,575 workers. There are 526 precincts in the county. About 20 of those precincts share polling places. Each polling site has up to five workers. That cost for workers does not include the cost for early voting sites.
Full Article: Lake County tallies cost of elections – Post-Tribune.