Secretary of state warns of ranked choice voting cost

Idaho’s chief election officer believes there could be a significant price tag to purchase equipment that can do ranked choice voting tabulation if the proposed Open Primaries initiative were to pass in November.

Supporters argue it could be cheaper than he is anticipating, and that the result is worth the cost.

Secretary of State Phil McGrane wrote to the Legislative Council on July 3 to outline the information he found from researching other states that implemented ranked choice voting, and he said it cost between $25 million and $40 million to get new equipment capable of tabulating the ranked choice ballots.

“Now the petition has ripened to the point that it’s headed to the voters, I thought it was important to get some of the information out there in terms of what are the practical implications related to all this,” McGrane said in a phone interview.

He said he wanted the legislators, who would be in charge of appropriating and potentially legislating how to implement this, to be aware of some of his findings.

The Open Primaries initiative, which would create a primary election open to all voters regardless of political affiliation and implement ranked choice voting for the general election, turned in enough signatures on July 2 to clear it to appear on the November ballot.

McGrane said he has been careful not to weigh in on the “philosophical” arguments about the initiative and did not provide his position on the idea itself because he is both the member of the executive branch who oversees the initiative process as well as the top election officer who will implement changes if the initiative passes.

“Given my dual roles here, I am mindful of my outsized voice in the petition process and elections,” he wrote in the letter. “My office has received many questions from people on both sides of this issue along the way, many of which we were not initially able to answer. I have tried to ensure we have approached this thoughtfully and done our due diligence.”

Changing to the top four open primary could result in a savings for many counties, McGrane wrote, because every voter would receive the same ballot instead of separate pre-printed ballots for different parties.

However, McGrane told lawmakers that there may be a cost to the general election vote counting, because the two vote tabulation vendors that are certified for use in Idaho are not capable of the ranked choice tabulation. He noted that it was difficult to estimate prices because the two states that have implemented ranked choice voting statewide — Maine and Alaska — run elections differently from Idaho.

There is a nonprofit software, known as RCTab, that has been tested and would be much less expensive, but McGrane said he wouldn’t consider it unless the software was certified by the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, EAC. He said Idaho doesn’t have the resources to do its own certification process and has always relied on EAC certification.

Per Idaho law, vote tabulation equipment does not necessarily need to be certified by the EAC and only needs to be tested and meet the EAC guidelines.

Idahoans for Open Primaries spokesperson Luke Mayville said under the law Idaho could use the lower-cost nonprofit software.

Mayville also shared with the Idaho Press a technical analysis from a former clerk of a Utah county that put in place ranked choice voting, and the clerk’s analysis found the software could be eligible for certification in Idaho.

“There is nothing in Idaho code that prevents our state from utilizing the low-cost software that is currently available to all 50 states,” Mayville said. “RCTab is a fiscally conservative option that can easily be certified in Idaho.”

McGrane also wrote in his letter that the state would likely need to do an education campaign to inform voters on the changes and how the voting process would work if the initiative were to pass. Alaska spent about $3 million on its advertising and education campaign, said Carol Beecher, director of Alaska Division of Elections.

“Other states that have implemented ranked choice voting have found that the education process is very straightforward and that ranked choice voting is very simple to explain,” Mayville said.

Mayville also said the outcomes supporters strive for with the election changes are well worth the cost that may be incurred at the beginning.

“The experience of other states suggests that the cost of implementing ranked choice voting is minimal,” Mayville said, “and that the cost is well worth it in order to create an election process that gives every voter a voice.”

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.