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San Mateo Sets Record Straight on Vote Cost

In a recent analysis of the cost of elections in 10 California counties, Techwire used figures that depicted San Mateo County's per-voter cost as significantly higher than it actually was. The county's elections chief pushed back, providing figures showing that the cost was only a fraction of what we reported.

In a recent analysis of the cost of elections in 10 California counties, Techwire used figures that appeared to show that San Mateo County's per-voter cost was significantly higher than it actually was. 
 
Since then, the county's elections chief pushed back, providing figures showing that the cost was only a fraction of what we reported.
 
The Techwire story, which appeared Nov. 5, said San Mateo County spent $53.48 per voter — the highest of the surveyed counties. To calculate the per-voter spend, Techwire divided the total amount of each county's elections budget by the number of eligible voters as reported by each county to the California Secretary of State's Office 15 days before the 2018 General Election.
 
But in calculating San Mateo's County's spend, the figure used was $27,147,655 — the overall 2017-18 budget for the combined assessor, county clerk-recorder and elections departments, not just the elections component. Except for the most recent two fiscal cycles, an elections-only budget was separately reported. 
 
Mark Church, San Mateo County's chief elections officer and assessor/county clerk/recorder, told Techwire that the elections-only net budget figure for fiscal year 2017-18 was actually $3,527,444 — a figure that, when divided by the county's 507,576 eligible voters, represents a per-voter spend of $6.94. Using those figures, San Mateo County's per-voter spend is by far the lowest among the counties surveyed.
 
The recommended 2018-19 budget for the San Mateo County assessor, clerk-recorder and elections was $34,424,349; that was the most granular data available at the time of Techwire's original analysis. That includes salaries, benefits and supplies for the entire office and does not include a breakout for elections-only spending. Elections division spending data was broken out in previous years but was unavailable at the time of publication for Techwire's original story.