At its May meeting, the Monroe County Election Board voted to mail an informational postcard to every household in Monroe County to publicize the proposed vote-center plan, a second public hearing and the public-comment process.

The vote follows a presentation from county election staff that summarized public engagement and three cost models for operating vote centers on election day. “We had the public hearing on April 7. We had 50 community members who showed up in person with an additional 30 plus online. 22 individuals gave a public comment at the hearing and most in support of vote centers,” Kylie, election staff, told the board. The board approved the mailing on a roll-call vote with all members voting yes.

The postcard will go to residential addresses rather than every registered voter to reduce cost; election staff told the board there are about 88,000 registered voters and about 65,000 residential addresses, and the vendor quoted a per-household rate of 36¢. Bert Brown, Monroe County Clerk, said the vendor provided a discount that reduced the price by about $3,300 and that the postcard will include QR codes linking to the vote-center plan and to the public-comment form.

Why it matters: shifting from precinct-based polling places to a smaller set of vote centers changes equipment, staffing and printing needs and requires county council review because of the fiscal impact. Election staff presented three equipment-and-staffing models for 29, 22 and 20 vote centers and an estimate of a roughly 5% total cost increase over the referenced election cycle if certain changes are adopted. The board packet also included a separate staffing-and-cost breakdown for adding up to three additional early-voting locations for the final 10 days before the election.

Supporting details: staff distributed slides used at a recent county-council briefing showing the projected “quadriennium” fiscal impact. In the packet, election staff noted an estimated 5% increase in total election costs under the vote-center options and said a 22-location plan would produce a per-period cost increase of about 1.3% (presentation language). Staff cautioned these figures were estimates and identified existing budget balances, a HAVA grant and roughly $25,000 previously set aside to repair existing equipment as possible offsets. Several county-council members asked staff about preserving budget cushions because election-cycle costs can fluctuate.

Public input and next steps: public comment on the vote-center proposal is being accepted through 11:59 p.m. on May 18; the second public hearing is scheduled for May 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Nat U Hill Room. The board also announced a related vote-center meeting on Wednesday, May 7 at 4:00 p.m. in the Showers Building and the next full election-board meeting on June 5 at 1:30 p.m. The postcard will include dates, QR codes to the plan and instructions for submitting written comments.

Discussion versus action: the board discussed the vote-center cost models and early-voting permutations (discussion). The board then took formal action to approve sending the informational postcard to households (formal action). The board did not adopt a final vote-center location count; staff said the board can approve vote-center plans with revisions and that county-council approval is required for fiscal changes.

A note on outreach and vendor: staff recommended sending one card per residential address rather than one per voter to contain cost. The county’s vendor for mailings is Midwest Presort; Clerk Brown said the vendor’s discounted per-household price was 36¢ after a negotiated discount.

Ending: the board’s approval authorizes the mailing and keeps the vote-center study moving forward; the county council will review the fiscal implications before any operational change is implemented. Public comment remains open through May 18, and the second hearing is May 19.