2024/12/02 by Zachary Mohr, Martha Kropf, Mary Jo McGowan +1 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #School Choice and Performance #Social Policy and Reform Studies
paper · doi:10.1017/9781009339452
openalex publication_date 2024/12/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02
The cost of administering elections is an importantly understudied area in election science. This book reports election costs in 48 out of 50 states. It discusses the challenges and opportunities of collecting local election costs. The book then presents the wide variation in cost across the country with the lowest spending states spending a little over 2 per voter and the highest spending almost 20 per voter. The amounts being spent in the state are also examined over the election time period of 2008 – 2016. Economic events like the Great Recession had predictable effects on lowering spending on elections but the patterns are not the same across the different regions of the country. The relationship between spending and election administration outcomes is also explored and finds that the voters' confidence and perceptions of fraud in elections is associated with the amount spent on election administration.