Cost for pandemic measures – CEO Appearance on the Main Estimates 2020–2021
Fact Sheet
Key Messages
- A general election (GE) will cost significantly more during a pandemic. Costs will depend on the timing of the election and the nature of any legislative changes adopted.
- The additional costs for safety material (e.g. masks, hand sanitizer, etc.), adjustments to the vote-by-mail system, and a voter information safety campaign, are estimated to be approximately $52 million.
- Estimates for other measures, such as the addition of a second polling day and the adjustment of staffing levels at the polls, will be available at a later date, once plans are fully developed.
Facts
- While most measures currently being proposed for a pandemic election will come with a cost (see table below), a few proposals may generate cost savings, such as not offering additional service points on campuses and having only a single poll worker at each voting table. Nonetheless, it is expected that the pandemic-related changes will generate a net cost increase to the general election.
- A full costing exercise for the next general election will be completed once plans are fully developed, including the possibility of legislative changes.
- The cost estimates available at this time are for safety material, special ballot vote-by-mail and the voter information safety campaign (as described below).
Items (Qty) | High Level Estimate ($M) |
---|---|
Masks (19 million) | $11.7 |
Hand Sanitizer 500 ml (833 thousand) | $13.3 |
Physical Barriers for Voting (125 thousand) | $5.5 |
Gloves XL (25 million) | $1.6 |
Pencils (16 million Regular, 4 million Large) | $1.4 |
Headsets (11 thousand) | $1.3 |
Face shields (411 thousand) | $1.2 |
Bottle of 160 Wipes (40 thousand) | $0.7 |
Additional Signage | $0.3 |
Material | $37.0 |
Mail-out of ballot kits and pre-paid returns (5.5 million) | $10.9 |
Envelopes | $0.9 |
Special Ballot Vote by Mail Services | $11.8 |
Voter Information Safety Campaign | $3.1 |
Total to Date | $51.9 |