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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Fox-Young

DATE TYPED 1/25/05

HB 22

SHORT TITLE Require Election Reporting in 48 Hours

SB

ANALYST Medina

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to elections

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Secretary of State

Responses Received From

Secretary of State

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 22 amends the Election Code with a section on the post-election reporting of ballots

cast. The bill calls for the county clerks to determine the number of each type of ballot cast in

each county and then transmit that information to the Secretary of State. The bill further requires

the Secretary of State to report on the number and type of each ballot cast statewide within 48

hours of the election.

Significant Issues

The bill does not specify whether the 48 hours begins at 7:00 PM on Election Day, the closing of

the polls statewide or how the information is to be reported by the Secretary of State, nor is a

deadline for county clerks to report to the Secretary of State specified.

House Bill 22 -- Page 2

The Secretary of State’s ability to report would depend on the number and type of ballots cast

would depend on the timeliness of the county clerks in counting the ballots. Accurate tallies and

paper reports should nonetheless be able to be produced in a timely manner.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

This bill provides for an activity performed by the Secretary of State that could potentially be

recorded for the purposes of performance-based budgeting. This performance would be heavily

dependent on the timeliness of the county clerks in their reporting to the Secretary of State.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

According to the Secretary of State:

“The capability of the Secretary of State to report the number of each type of ballot cast

in an election within 48 hours depends on the transmittal of information from the county

clerks in a timely manner.

For county clerks to “determine” the number of each type of ballot cast and transmit this

information to the Secretary of State by the “closing of the polls” is logistically improb-

able:

(1)

Provisional ballots are not canvassed at the precincts, they are canvassed by

the county canvassing board which convenes three-days after the election to

begin the canvassing process;

(2)

Provisional ballots cannot be tallied until they are qualified;

(3)

Precincts are often miles away from county clerk’s offices and transmittal of

ballots cast by type does not occur at the ‘closing of the polls’.”

The bill does not require that the county clerks determine the validity of each ballot cast prior to

reporting on the number and type of each ballot cast.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL.

Status quo.

DXM/lg