Comments on: Democracy Too Costly for Seymour? http://www.ctvoterscount.org/democracy-too-costly-for-seymour/ because Connecticut voters count Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:34:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: mattw http://www.ctvoterscount.org/democracy-too-costly-for-seymour/comment-page-1/#comment-603 mattw Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:42:47 +0000 http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2869#comment-603 Edit -- "Sherman Registrars" should be "Seymour Registrars." Edit — “Sherman Registrars” should be “Seymour Registrars.”

]]> By: mattw http://www.ctvoterscount.org/democracy-too-costly-for-seymour/comment-page-1/#comment-602 mattw Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:34:52 +0000 http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2869#comment-602 That's crap. They have 3 polling places, with 2300 Dems and 2100 Republicans. Assuming 100% turnout (which is itself ridiculous): Pollworkers: 11 per district * 3 districts * $8.50 per hour * 16 hours = $4500 AB Counters: 5 * 6 hours * $8.50 = $255 Ballots: $.38 * 4400 = $1672 Memory Cards: ~$200/district * 4 = $800 IVS programming: ~$100/district * 3 = $300 Phone/Fax line installation + 1 Month Service: ~$125 * 3 districts * 2 lines = $750 Required additional Registrar sessions: 3 staff * $8/hour * 20 hours = $480 Total election costs outside of regular operations: $8757 HOWEVER, SotS has pledged to cover the IVS programming, ballot, and memory card costs through to Nov. 2010, so Sherman would be on the hook for just about $6000 for the total of two simultaneous primaries. Now, $6K is real money, but is a fraction of the $20K budget increase or the $15K "for each primary" cost they cite. The cited costs would cover a primary in a town with 3X the polling places and 5X the party-affiliated voters. Also (and this is probably a Valley Independent Sentinel error and not a Sherman Registrars error), the first phone line is not "used for the regular machines" -- it's used for communication between the Moderators and the Registrar's office. That’s crap. They have 3 polling places, with 2300 Dems and 2100 Republicans.

Assuming 100% turnout (which is itself ridiculous):

Pollworkers: 11 per district * 3 districts * $8.50 per hour * 16 hours = $4500
AB Counters: 5 * 6 hours * $8.50 = $255
Ballots: $.38 * 4400 = $1672
Memory Cards: ~$200/district * 4 = $800
IVS programming: ~$100/district * 3 = $300
Phone/Fax line installation + 1 Month Service: ~$125 * 3 districts * 2 lines = $750
Required additional Registrar sessions: 3 staff * $8/hour * 20 hours = $480

Total election costs outside of regular operations: $8757

HOWEVER, SotS has pledged to cover the IVS programming, ballot, and memory card costs through to Nov. 2010, so Sherman would be on the hook for just about $6000 for the total of two simultaneous primaries.

Now, $6K is real money, but is a fraction of the $20K budget increase or the $15K “for each primary” cost they cite. The cited costs would cover a primary in a town with 3X the polling places and 5X the party-affiliated voters.

Also (and this is probably a Valley Independent Sentinel error and not a Sherman Registrars error), the first phone line is not “used for the regular machines” — it’s used for communication between the Moderators and the Registrar’s office.

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