Basic Considerations
In developing budgets and cost guidelines for the various projects integral to voting operations, election administrators need to carefully identify the following:
- all the relevant cost components--failure to identify and budget for all of these can result in shortages of funds during the election period;
- the most cost-effective manner for procuring these relevant cost components--wherever possible, lower cost solutions that utilise simple systems, existing infrastructure, and continuity of resources should be pursued.
Basis of Cost Estimates
The common denominator in estimating costs and acquiring election resources is the number of voters to be serviced. Definition of what percentage of voters is expected to vote is critical for establishing cost-effective operations. Where election administrators are confident, from comprehensive past records and their analysis of the current environment, that the turnout figure will be in a particular range, cost efficiencies can be gained by estimating and acquiring resources on this basis. It would be advisable to base budgets and resource needs on a close to 100 percent turnout, which will allow additional capacity to deal with any contingencies.
Cost-effective measures will be environment specific, depending on such issues as the level of security required for public confidence and the relative costs of labour-intensive to automated or high-tech methods. (For further discussion of these issues, see Cost Considerations, Budgeting and Planning Cycle and Finance.)
Specific Costs
The following sections cover the relevant specific costs:
- staffing and training, see Staffing and Training Costs;
- equipment, materials and premises (including security), see Equipment, Materials and Premises Costs;
- communications and postage, see Communications and Postage Costs;
- transport and freight, see Transport and Freight Costs;
- other costs (including voter information, overheads, insurance, challenges/legal), see Other Costs.
Contingencies
Provision for contingencies will need to address issues of
- excess levels of materials, equipment and staff for emergency re-supply;
- disaster recovery, such as where voting has to be adjourned to another day, or offices relocated due to natural disaster or disturbance, or there are major failures in computer systems;
- potential changes to election frameworks during the election period that may lead to additional workloads and resource requirements.
For reserve quantities of materials, it would be normal to maintain around a 10 percent reserve over estimated requirements. Reserve quantities for relevant items will generally need to be higher where new systems or procedures are being introduced, or where there is reliance on external bodies (e.g, for the provision of transport or mail services) of unproven or historically poor performance (see Contingency Staff). Contingency estimates for disaster recovery will need to be guided by risk assessments in each specific environment.
Funding for actions resulting from possible changes to election frameworks would not generally be sought in formal budget proposals, even though it is wise to calculate in advance the costs of potential changes. However, for transitional elections, where negotiations on election frameworks may continue well into the election period, the preparation of formal cost estimates for the effects of potential framework changes can be very useful. (For further discussion of contingency issues, see Contingency Plans and Contingency Staff.)
Post-Election Activity
Provision may need to be made for activities following the conclusion of the election, such as evaluations of voting operations processes or research into voting issues. In some systems, such as those with a permanent voters list or where voting is compulsory, provision will need to be made for follow-up of some voters, e.g., for those whose voter registration entries were found to be incorrect or, in compulsory voting systems, for those who did not vote.
