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WESTSIDE - Today I received the Official Sample Ballot publication, produced by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk regarding the statewide special election slated for November 4th for in-person participation and voting centers opening on October 25th through Election Day.
The rather elaborate, saddle-stitched, 16-page magazine of sorts that is mailed to every LA County registered voter which is some 5.6 million in terms of its print run for a single question election asking voters to authorize "temporary changes" to the congressional district map in response to the Texas gerrymandering while partisan, is perfectly legal.
These new districts would remain in place through 2031, with a fiscal impact not stated, but estimated in the body of the question being a "few million dollars."
One wonders if anyone in government has any sense of fiscal responsibility that would appropriate dollars to further gerrymander a map already lopsided in representation for Democrats, that in effect would further marginalize Republicans virtually on the edge of political extinction here in California?
For the cost seems to drown out any sense of democracy, as California Democrats already hold super majorities in the legislature and dominate the congressional delegation with 43 of the 52 seats or 82.6% while the GOP retains the rest or a meager 17.3%!
For how much juice is left to squeeze for Democrats with a new map completely gerrymandered and politically bludgeoned?
This domination is only rivaled by Massachusetts, where every congressional seat is held by a Democrat, or 0-9 against the decimated GOP!
For is it fiscally sound or wise to conduct a single ballot initiative, and is replicating the power of the majority that took place in Texas by the Republicans somehow legitimized here in California by Democrats?
While it depends heavily on scale the actual cost to taxpayers (number of voters, polling places, mail ballots, staffing, etc.), here’s useful background and plausible estimates with caveats:
A special off-cycle election in LA County has been estimated at roughly $900,000 by Pasadena Now.
- To get a rough ballpark for LA County, assume the number of registered voters is 5.6 million as indicated by the California Voter Foundation, the printing and mailing of these pamphlets cost between 20-50 cents per copy, but these are rough estimates coming from someone who has worked for a consumer magazine for over 30 years.
- For the printing and mailing alone could be estimated between $1.2 million to nearly $3 million at a reasonable guesstimate.
- Add to that staff, polling place operations, equipment, transportation, legal notices, etc. Even for “just one question,” many of those overhead costs are fixed or minimally variable.
Given that a special election (with fewer races) in LA County was estimated at ~$892,000, printing + ballot operations for a full countywide election with one question could easily run into several million dollars.
But millions today don't mean much when the cost of government is in the billions. A quick analysis of the LA Municipal Budget for example spends some $38 million dollars a day or $266 million a week to operate, a staggering figure despite being the country's second largest municipality.
For why a 16-page voter guide to explain a single question?
For how many county employees does it require to screw in a light bulb?
For democracy has been deranged by "tit for tat," partisan politics that in the end will change little if nothing at all.
(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-two-year resident of Venice who covers the political happening as they relate to the Westside. Have a take or a tip? Contact him via e-mail at [email protected].)
