With the year-end holiday season underway, we are in the midst of a series of days marketed to consumers as unofficial shopping days: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Buyers on these days are looking to save money and make cost-effective purchases for everyone on their gift list. These shoppers likely wouldn’t flock to the deals offered in a new Pew Election Data Dispatch examining the high cost of uncontested elections. The Dispatch looks at (and links to) several stories of where localities were forced to spend funds on elections where the winner was already clear:
$ A recent election in Huntsville, TX, for three uncontested school district trusteeships was required under state law at a projected cost of $13,000.
$ State law required the town of Bernalillo, NM, to hold an uncontested March 2012 election for two Town Council members and one judge. It cost the town, which has a population of roughly 8,000, approximately $10,000.
Full Article: Pricey Tuesday? New Pew Dispatch Highlights Cost of Uncontested Elections – Election Academy.