DuPage faces unpredictble election costs

The DuPage County Election Commission may face several challenges this year as it deals with significant changes to state and federal rules in addition to some budget restraints.

The commission’s original request for $6.6 million in local funding was rejected by the county board and eventually reduced to $6 million.

Bob Saar, the agency’s executive director, said his goal is to avoid asking for additional money from the county board before the fiscal year ends Nov. 30.

“We understand what the economic realities are,” Saar said. “People are expecting county agencies to work smarter.

“We’re going to attempt to live within the means of what’s currently budgeted.”

Nevertheless, Saar said the factors that caused the election commission to ask for $600,000 more than it received haven’t changed.

The commission, which had a $4.8 million budget last year, needs more money than normal because of the presidential election, he said. County officials said the agency’s budget includes $217,000 for overtime, $243,000 for temporary help and $1.5 million for election judges salaries.

Saar said the “wild card” of November’s general election will be the state law that allows any registered voter to cast an absentee ballot. Before the change was adopted in February 2010, voters couldn’t cast their ballot by mail unless they met numerous requirements.

“It went from really restrictive to completely open,” Saar said.

With media reports and campaigns expected to spread the word about voting by mail, Saar said there’s going to be a dramatic increase in absentee voting. But he has no idea what those numbers could end up being.

“I don’t know if I am going to get 30,000 people voting by mail or 150,000 people voting by mail,” said Saar, adding that a major jump in absentee voting countywide would increase the commission’s costs.

Another new expense the commission is dealing with comes from being ordered by the U.S. Department of Justice to print election materials in both English and Spanish for the first time. The commission also will need to hire Spanish-speaking election judges in some precincts. The agency already hired a full-time translator, officials said.

The Department of Justice ordered the changes after the national census found DuPage’s Hispanic population meets federal requirements for bilingual elections.

Despite the unfunded mandates, the commission recently received $900,000 in federal grant money that can be used for equipment purchases, maintenance costs and some training. That might free money in the commission’s budget for other expenses.

Meanwhile, a county board spokeswoman said the election commission has the opportunity, like all departments, to request additional funding as the fiscal year proceeds.