Secretary of State’s office seeks $17M for closed‑primary transition, $12.7M for electronic poll books; voting system procurement advances

The Department of State presented a FY26 budget recommendation that includes a major carryover of election‑related costs tied to the switch to statewide closed party primaries and a requested new voting system procurement.

House Fiscal Division analyst Blair LeBlanc said the department’s FY26 House Bill 1 recommendation totals roughly $131.0 million, with the elections program comprising about $90.8 million (69.3 percent of the department’s funding and 151 positions). LeBlanc said REC recognized $22.9 million in state general fund for the department in the recommendation and that the FY26 request includes a net $17.1 million increase in state general fund primarily to implement a new statewide closed party primary in FY26 under recent laws.

Why it matters: The presentations link substantial one‑time and recurring election costs to statutory changes enacted in 2024. The department also emphasized the need to replace an aging voting fleet and to fund voter‑education outreach to reduce voter confusion when the closed party primary model begins.

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