If you’re one of the approximately 5,500 voters who didn’t show an ID at the polls in November, you’ve got mail.
You’ve likely already received a letter from Secretary of State Bill Gardner explaining that someone using your name cast a ballot on Nov. 6. Along with the letter is a small postcard, with postage already paid, that you must sign and send back confirming it was you who voted.
All of this is required by the state’s new voter ID law.
And Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan says his office estimates each mailing cost roughly $3.
“Which includes the return postage paid mailer that the voter should send back to us.”
The estimate also takes into account the cost of mailing the forms to the voters, printing the accompanying letters and the manpower of filling the envelopes.
So what’s the cost? $16,272, based on Scanlan’s estimate.
The question now is whether this new process will result in any cases of voter fraud turning up.
“We did make it easy for people to respond. They just have to take the postcard in the envelope, sign it, and get it back in the mail. It’ll be interesting to see the results of the response.”
Postcards must be returned within 90 days. The attorney general must investigate cases where the cards aren’t returned, though there is no legal penalty for not filling it out.
Several Democrats plan on filing legislation to either scale back or remove completely the voter ID requirements put into place under Republican leadership.
The state also spent approximately $28,000 sending out letters to nearly 14,000 voters who filled out domicile affidavits in the November election.
