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Election commission exceeds budget on poll-worker costs; audit committee asks budget and state officials for answers
Summary
Sumner County’s audit committee reviewed a $52,000 overrun in poll-worker costs and unanimously asked the county budget committee to work with the election administrator to explain the difference and early-voting practices.
Sumner County’s audit committee pressed the county’s election commission spending after the election administrator’s payroll for poll workers exceeded approved budgets by roughly $52,000.
“The request from the election commission was $277,219,” a committee analyst said, noting the budget committee estimated $280,000 and the actual expenditures were $332,007.21. Committee members questioned why poll-worker costs rose by roughly 32 percent while registered voters and votes cast did not increase proportionally.
Committee members reviewed benchmarking with nearby counties and possible explanations provided by the election administrator in email: new voting machines that are heavier and require extra staff to move, more poll-worker days, and different early-voting schedules. “She had to actually use more workers to carry them,” the analyst read from the administrator’s email.
Several committee members said the data raise legitimate questions but do not, by themselves, prove mismanagement. “We're right to look at that. But whatever's happening here appears to be happening in the other counties as well,” one commissioner said after reviewing comparative graphs.
The committee voted unanimously to ask the county budget committee to work with Election Administrator Ms. Ashley to identify and explain the overage, the calculation of early-voting days and other operational decisions that affect costs.
Separately, committee members passed a unanimous motion to invite a representative of the state comptroller’s office and a representative from the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office to a future meeting to discuss statutory responsibilities, benchmarks and avenues for answers when county committees seek information. The committee recorded the invitation motion as unanimous; members asked staff and legal counsel to coordinate scheduling.
Committee members also discussed how election workers are paid (per day rates), the difficulty recruiting volunteers, and whether heavier machines increase the number of workers or days needed. The committee requested detailed line-item invoices and explanations so the budget committee and staff can determine whether an intra-year appropriation or other administrative change is required.
Background: committee materials showed Sumner County used more early-voting days in 2024 (for the presidential cycle) than some neighboring jurisdictions; the packet listed 31 early-voting “days” for the November cycle in Sumner County and 24 in Montgomery County. The committee asked the budget committee to seek Ms. Ashley’s operational explanations and return with findings to the audit committee.
