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1 | ANALYSIS OF FISCAL NOTE OF LD 1625, June 17, 2017: RCV Resource Center Analysis Based on Centralized Tabulation Method | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | FISCAL YEAR- 2017/2018 | FISCAL YEAR- 2018/2019 | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Description (in order of fiscal note cost) | Secretary of State Analysis | Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center | Change | Secretary of State Analysis | Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center | Change | Secretary of State Analysis | Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center | Change | Notes and Explanation of RCV Resource Center estimates | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Total costs for items below | $833,664 | $186,740 | -$646,924 | $691,314 | $85,850 | -$605,464 | $1,524,978 | $272,590 | -$1,252,388 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Ballot printing costs | $228,000 | $0 | -$228,000 | $260,000 | $0 | -$260,000 | $488,000 | $0 | -$488,000 | BALLOT PRINTING COSTS: The fiscal note requires a second ballot to be printed. The apparent assumption is that having two ballots will facilitate administrative issues, but we disagree. North Carolina ran RCV contests on the same ballot with non-RCV contests. As a reminder, in the general election, there will be at most 2 RCV contests and in the primary no more than 5 RCV contests. Given the capabilities of the ES&S system, a second ballot would not be technically required in either scenario, as the current single two-sided ballot used by the State of Maine can accommodate all contests, including RCV. As far as administrative issues, once the ballot is scanned during voting, the data needed for RCV is captured and the ballot does not need to be scanned again. NOT SUBJECT TO REVISION: We do not believe that a second ballot would need to be printed due to RCV. | ||||||||||||||||
6 | DS200 Additional Units | $220,000 | $0 | -$220,000 | $200,000 | $0 | -$200,000 | $420,000 | $0 | -$420,000 | LEASING ADDITIONAL DS200 UNITS: Our understanding is that this would be for adding scanners for communities that traditionally have 500 or more votes cast that currently count ballots by hand. While there may be value in more hand-count communities having access to scanners, that decision has no intrinsic connection to administering RCV elections. Leasing central scanners, as budgeted in the fiscal note, makes scanning such hand-tallied ballots fast and straightforward, since the Model 850 is able to process up to 300 ballots per minute. NOT SUBJECT TO REVISION: We do not believe this decision about machines should be tied to use of RCV. | ||||||||||||||||
7 | State Police personnel services | $98,314 | $0 | -$98,314 | $98,314 | $0 | -$98,314 | $196,628 | $0 | -$196,628 | STATE POLICE: State police personnel services should fall under the duties of the state police and not be additional expense to the Elections Division unless Maine law requires. We also note that the Secretary of State's office in previous years has contemplated using Federal Express or UPS to transport memory sticks, which also would lower costs. SUBJECT TO REVISION: We would like to see how state police costs were paid for in 2016 when all or nearly all ballots were transported to Augusta for a statewide recount of a ballot measure. We may revise this estimate with this information or if the state instead chose to rely on Federal Express. | ||||||||||||||||
8 | ESS Model 850 Lease | $73,444 | $73,444 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $73,444 | $73,444 | $0 | LEASING HIGH-SPEED SCANNERS: The fiscal note assumes high-speed Model 850 scanners for Primary (2 units) and for the General (4 units). High-speed scanners would be needed for a centralized tabulation method, particularly if no new machines are allocated to hand-count towns. Note that the State of Maine might benefit from these high-speed scanners for other potential uses, such as recounts, then the cost would not be exclusive to RCV. SUBJECT TO REVISION: This cost could be removed if Maine were to have more hand-count towns convert to machine counting. | ||||||||||||||||
9 | Memory devices | $61,710 | $8,250 | -$53,460 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $61,710 | $8,250 | -$53,460 | MEMORY DEVICES: Previous fiscal note indicates 486 of these are being purchased as duplicates for locations that already have DS200 units. This cost adds $8,250 to the previous fiscal note cost, which equates to one additional memory device for each of the additional DS200 units being added to communities that traditionally cast 500 or more votes. By practice for recounts and testing, counties should already have these additional memory devices, and therefore this is not a cost incurred because of RCV. Acknowledging that the additional units may not have an additional memory device, we have included that cost in our calculation. SUBJECT TO REVISION: We would be interested in any information that contradicts our analysis and assumptions. | ||||||||||||||||
10 | Fuel - State Police | $50,560 | $3,210 | -$47,350 | $50,560 | $3,210 | -$47,350 | $101,120 | $6,420 | -$94,700 | FUEL COSTS: Fiscal note includes more than 90,000 miles in driving costs per primary or general election. 2013 data indicates the State of Maine consists of 46,879 lane miles, so the fiscal note is excessive , particularly when factoring in state police being able to collect ballots and memory sticks from multiple towns on a single trip and that memory sticks will not need to be returned to the town after use in Augusta . The alternative calculation our team has done estimates a high end of 6000 miles driven at the federal mileage rate of 53.5 cents. At the Maine state government reimbursement rate of 44 cents per mile this estimated cost would be even lower at $2,640. One also should note that this is always a contingency: that is fuel costs are only incurred when RCV is needed. If no race prompts an RCV contest then this line item for that election would be zero. SUBJECT TO REVISION: We would revise this estimate if additional information detailing the basis for this calculation were provided. | ||||||||||||||||
11 | Voter Outreach Costs | $50,000 | $50,000 | $0 | $50,000 | $50,000 | $0 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $0 | VOTER OUTREACH: We do not have a different suggested number, but voter outreach can be accomplished on a shoestring budget or a much larger budget. Cost-effective tools include PSAs, community presentations, building from existing voter education currently in place in Maine or from other RCV jurisdictions, existing websites and social media, partnerships with other organizations, and most importantly good verbal and written instruction to the voters when they vote. Voter outreach reaches the most civically engaged; it's the 30 seconds or less at the polling place that has the greatest impact. SUBJECT TO REVISION: This line item could go up or down based on subjective decisions, as discussed. | ||||||||||||||||
12 | EMS Upgrade (EVS 5.1) | $24,800 | $0 | -$24,800 | $24,800 | $0 | -$24,800 | $49,600 | $0 | -$49,600 | EMS UPGRADE: Software upgrades are not a recurring charge. Voting equipment vendors charge an annual license fee for software, which would be a recurring cost not due to RCV. Fiscal note should be modified to indicate if ES&S is charging for an upgrade of the software. In that event, this charge should only be in the first fiscal year. Additionally, the current EMS, which is EAC certified, is EVS 5.2.0.3 and should be utilized. SUBJECT TO REVISION: We might restore the charge for the first year if it was deemed to be a necessary one-time expense. | ||||||||||||||||
13 | ERM Software/hardware | $19,196 | $19,196 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $19,196 | $19,196 | $0 | ERM SOFTWARE/HARDWARE: We agree with the Secretary of State's understanding that this is one time charge, associated with the upgrade of the EMS. | ||||||||||||||||
14 | Lease Facilities - 2 weeks | $5,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $0 | LEASE FACILITIES: More information is needed about this line item. It is assumed leased space is needed for Model 850 scanners. SUBJECT TO REVISION: We might remove or lower this estimate with additional information. | ||||||||||||||||
15 | SOS Temp Help (2) | $2,640 | $2,640 | $0 | $2,640 | $2,640 | $0 | $5,280 | $5,280 | $0 | NOT SUBJECT TO REVISION. We have no reason to reach a different conclusion about the need for this expense. | ||||||||||||||||
16 | Third-party Tabulation Software | $0 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $0 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $0 | $50,000 | $50,000 | THIRD PARTY TABLUTION SOFTWARE: This line item was not in the fiscal note, but the ES&S system does not have built-in tabulation for RCV. A third-party vendor would need to be contracted. Alternatively, an in-house tabulation application could be developed or a lower cost or free application could be used. SUBJECT TO REVISION: It is quite possible that this software could be obtained for free. | ||||||||||||||||
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18 | For more information and questions, please visit RankedChoiceVoting.org and contact | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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20 | Gary Bartlett, Director | gobartlett@nc.rr.com | 919-705-3366 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | Karen Brinson | karen.brinson@rankedchoicevoting.org | 828-674-9472 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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