The Secretary of State’s Office says the first Election Day under the new Voter ID law was a low-cost success story. But over the next few months, those costs will rise.
But how much money the state will have to pay to implement and enforce the Voter ID law is still an open question.
More than 700,000 people voted on Election Day. Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan says about 7,000 of them didn’t show their ID. They signed a challenged voter affidavit, instead. So now, the Secretary of State’s office has to send them verification letters.
“So there will probably be a cost of roughly $2 to $3 for each of those mailings. That’ll be a cost of somewhere between $14,000 and $21,000 dollars," Scanlan says. "It could’ve been a lot worse.”
Voters who don’t sign and return the verification letter will be referred to the Attorney General’s office for investigation in the spring--which will also cost the state money.
That number remains to be seen.
