US election threats cost local governments millions in security

With threats to election officials on the rise since 2020, local governments have been spending millions of dollars to increase protections for voters, poll workers, ballots and equipment.

About 92% of local election officials say they’ve taken steps since the last presidential cycle to increase security for voters, election workers or election infrastructure, according to a survey earlier this year by the Brennan Center for Justice. Those measures range from cybersecurity protections to physical enhancements for election office or polling sites. Everything from the cost of paper for ballot printing to technology upgrades to physical facility enhancements is hitting budgets.

“The cost for securing elections is only increasing day by day because of new threats,” said Isaac Cramer, a South Carolina elections official and one of the legislative chairs for the National Association of Election Officials.

Administering elections — from the ballot printing to the poll station security — is the responsibility of local authorities, and the decentralized nature makes it difficult to tally a total cost for the 2024 contest, but officials including those in swing states like Georgia and Wisconsin, agree that costs are climbing.

Although billions have been provided by Congress for election security in recent years, local governments say it isn’t enough and officials have spent heavily to upgrade various election aspects, like new facilities and worker training. While federal grants exist, the demand far outpaces the need and in some states — like South Carolina and Wisconsin — federal dollars aren’t distributed below the state level, so costs are borne by county and municipalities’ general funds.

Cramer, who is in charge of administering elections in Charleston County, South Carolina, said the county has spent more than $500,000 since 2020 in security, plus a new building that will ultimately cost upwards of $7 million.

“Counties cover the costs of administering federal elections,” he told a senate committee while testifying earlier this year. “The federal government should pay its fair share.”

Since 2020, the election budget for Durham County, North Carolina, has surged by $1 million to $3.3 million, according to Derek Bowens, the county’s elections director. New measures include an emergency alert button system so officials can discreetly call 911, GPS tracking of critical supplies and an escort arrangement where members of the opposite party follow appointed election officials as they drop off ballots each night.

Durham also just moved into a new $26 million elections facility that’s outfitted with cameras, secure parking, bulletproof glass, arrest buttons and a mail room with a separate exhaust system.

In Philadelphia, the election budget has tripled to nearly $40 million since 2019, according to Omar Sabir, the city commissioner. They’ve upped pay for poll workers, bought new equipment and hired more security among other measures, he said. And in Georgia, another swing state, local governments are spending more on elections, including new or refurbished offices for some counties, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in an interview.

“They’re spending county dollars to make sure that their election offices are fully staffed and fully resourced financially,” Raffensperger said. “Costs have gone up, but I think that people understand that it’s critical infrastructure.”

In Dane County, Wisconsin, the most significant elections-related cost is a $20 million new facility that’s still under construction. That’s coming out of the county’s general fund. Its election budget for 2024 is $1.2 million, up from $700,000 in 2020, said Scott McDonell, the clerk for the county which Biden won in 2020, after the Trump campaign paid for, and lost, a contentious recount.

“Some people have nice, secure places for their stuff and others — their machine’s in a broom closet,” said McDonell. “The new building would change all that. We’d have one secure facility for everything.”