County Clerks In Hot Seat for November Election

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert has worked out a plan to pay for November's referendum election and it requires county clerks to make a leap of faith. State officials estimate the election will cost more than three million dollars - about one third of which will be paid for by cities, says Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert:

"The cities have agreed to take money they have budgeted for their municipal election and use that money to defray the costs," says Herbert. "That money will go to the counties - and we've talked to the cities about making a good-faith effort here. Nobody hide the pea. Whatever they budgeted they need to pass on."

Herbert's proposal to fund November's election is based on a series of such "good faith" relationships. He will trust cities to turn their November elections over to county clerks, along with the money they've budgeted. County clerks will have to trust that state officials and lawmakers will not leave them holding a sizable tab for electronic voting equipment and other election costs. Herbert says his office will drain its budget to give county clerks two-million dollars for the November election - but state elections officer Michael Cragun says it's possible that won't be enough:

"I would not be surprised if that happens," says Cragun. "It will depend on how much the cities have actually budgeted, how much the state legislature appropriates and how much it actually costs to run the election. All of these are based on estimates."

Yesterday, Lieutenant Governor Herbert asked state lawmakers to plan on spending at least two and a half million dollars to replenish his election budget as soon as the Legislature convenes in January.

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