County Commission | The Magazine April 2018 | Page 11

FROM THE COVER
to make sure it’s accessible, not too
dense or crowded where people can
get in and out. And just make sure
it’s a good location.”
Election Equipment
The county governing body
does have authority over how many
voting machines are available
at each polling place, and the
commission’s responsibility for
voting technology goes even further
– to selecting the type of machines
and procuring them.
“A whole generation of county
commissioners has come of age in an
era when they haven’t had to budget
for voting equipment, and they
sometimes react with surprise when
faced with squeezing it in among
other priorities,” states a 2018 report
from the National Conference of
State Legislatures.
How is that possible? For
starters, the 2000 presidential
election debacle spawned major
federal reforms, including new
standards for voting equipment
along with grant dollars to help with
the cost. So across the country, there
was widespread acquisition of new
machines around the same time.
The other factor is turnover
of elected officials. In Alabama,
more than 60 percent of county
commissioners have taken office
since 2009.
Still, the NCSL’s phrase that
county commissioners “sometimes
react with surprise” when faced with
incorporating voting equipment
into the county budget could raise
eyebrows with local officials in
Alabama. In this state, counties have
few options to raise revenue, making
the annual budget a zero-sum game.
If elections cost more, some other
public service has to be cut.
Financial Duties
Making democracy function
costs money, and counties have an
important role in the financial side
of elections.
It’s a responsibility that is
taken seriously, as reflected in the
Alabama County Platform, which
states, “Alabama’s election laws
must maintain an unquestioned
level of integrity and objectivity
while avoiding the wasteful
spending of limited local and
state resources.”
Generally speaking, counties
must budget for elections in
advance, pay for expenses as they
come due and seek reimbursement
where available. The state provides
significant reimbursement – often
50 percent or occasionally 100
percent in some elections – for a
defined set of eligible expenses. In
addition, there are limited funds,
provided through the 2002 Help
America Vote Act, available to
reimburse some costs.
Still, these programs do not
cover the full cost of “out-of-pocket”
election expenses. Eligible expenses
include poll worker compensation
and required newspaper advertising.
Ineligible expenses include
maintenance of voting machines,
moving expenses and rental of
polling places.
Many counties, to the
extent possible, lean on in-house
assistance. Maintenance staff,
highway department employees and
IT technicians are often part of the
election team. There can be an “all
hands on deck” feel with projects
such as delivering equipment
“Elections in the United States are administered in a
highly decentralized process through which each state
shapes its own election laws, which in turn shape the
roles counties play in the months and weeks leading up
to Election Day. In the United States, the nation’s 3,069
counties traditionally administer and fund elections at the
local level, overseeing more than 109,000 polling places
and coordinating more than 694,000 poll workers every
two years. County election officials work diligently with
federal, state and other local election officials to ensure
the safety and security of our voting systems.”

—“Counties Matter: Elections,” National
Association of Counties (NACo)
COUNTY COMMISSION | 11