After deciding that a particular technology is affordable, the next step for an electoral management body (EMB) is to prepare a detailed budget. The budget needs to take account of both the immediate and the ongoing costs associated with the chosen technology.
There are four components to a technology budget: the list of goods and services to be purchased, the cost of each item, the schedule of payments, and any expected savings associated with the new technology. Except in the case of items that are only to be used on one occasion and then disposed of, most items of technology will require ongoing funding for maintenance. Funds will also need to be secured for the life of the technology.
Budget items
Depending on the type and scope of the technology being considered, these items may appear in the budget:
- hardware (purchased or leased) —for example, computers, monitors, printers, scanners, photocopiers, fax machines, communications equipment, electronic voting devices, touch screens
- software (licensed, purchased or leased) —for example, office automation, database, finance, personnel, proprietary, Internet, communications
- communications - for example, network charges, satellite links, cabling, radio, telecommunications
- peripherals - for example, keyboards, modems, speakers, amplifiers, disk drives, disk writers, backup storage devices, ergonomic aids, emergency power supplies
- consumables - for example, printer ink and toner, paper, disks
- support for example, repair technicians
- maintenance - for example, technicians
- salary - for example, payment of staff who will be partly or wholly dedicated to working with the new technology
- consultants - for example, project management consultants, technical consultants or independent auditors
- transport - for example, transport from place of purchase to place of storage and to place of use
- energy - for example, electricity to operate the technology and associated lighting and air conditioning, power generators for emergency use or for use where local power supplies are unreliable
- storage - for example, storage during and between use
- training - for example, training full time and part-time staff to use the new technology
- public information - for example, conducting a public education campaign on the use of a new electronic voting system
- documentation - for example, system specifications, technical maintenance manuals, user manuals, training manuals
- printing - for example, documents designed to be used with the technology, such as machine readable ballots or forms
- back-up systems - for example, alternative systems such as manual systems to fall back on if technology fails, as well as systems for backing up and storing data in the event of system failure
- disposal costs - for example, costs associated with disposing of or selling obsolete technology
- depreciation and amortisation estimates - for example computer equipment expected to last three years has a cost that can be written off in a three years period which is equivalent to a depreciation of environ 33% par an.
Estimating costs
Once all the possible items of expenditure have been identified, costs, estimated for the expected life of the equipment or project, need to be assigned to each item.
Project timeline
In most cases, not all new technology costs need to be paid up front. After the initial purchase and set-up costs, usually there are ongoing maintenance and development costs over the life of the project. The long-term budget can be calculated following a timeline with project milestones payment schedules.
Where the project involves a testing and/or evaluation stage, it is desirable to make progressive payments dependent on achieving the set milestones. If there is a provision to halt a project in the event that the system fails to pass testing, the payment schedule has to be structured so as to minimise the cost to the election management body.
Final payment to suppliers is supposed to be delayed until after the successful completion of the project. This ensures that suppliers commit to the completion of the project. Penalty clauses can also be inserted in the delivery contract, to be invoked if crucial milestones are not met.
The project timeline is expected to extend up to and ideally past the expected life of the technology. This enables all of the possible costs to be identified and also to recognize future costs involved in replacing or upgrading the technology.
This timeline can be used to identify points in the project schedule where it would be appropriate to make payments for system implementation and maintenance.
Possible savings
As good practice, the budget for a new technology identifies any offset savings that can be achieved in the course of the project. For example, costs may be offset by the savings achieved by discontinuing a manual process that is being replaced with a technological solution. In some cases, the cost of the new system may be less than the old system, leading to a net saving. This is the easiest kind of new system to get funding for.
It is probable that, in the short-term, a new system incurs greater costs than the old system. This is particularly true when the old and new systems are run in parallel before converting fully to the new system. In addition, there are often significant onetime set-up costs for a new system. It is particularly important to calculate the estimated cost of the project over its whole life, as well as the projected savings, when it is more likely that net savings may be achieved in the long-term.
