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Secretary of State seeks ongoing voter guide funding, continues election system upgrades
Summary
Secretary of State Phil McGrane requested an ongoing appropriation for a voter guide mailed to all households, continued funding for software and training, and one‑time funds to replace IT equipment; the office reported progress on an RFP for a new statewide election system.
The Idaho Secretary of State’s office told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Oct. 24 that it seeks ongoing funding to produce and distribute a voter guide to Idaho households, plus resources for software subscriptions, training and periodic publication costs tied to the Idaho Blue Book and state constitution printing.
Christopher Lahoset, Legislative Services Office analyst, said the office has a cap of 35.5 full‑time positions and noted the larger FY24 appropriation that included a $10 million one‑time appropriation for an elections system upgrade; about $2.5 million of that $10 million has been spent and the remainder was reappropriated into FY25. Lahoset told committee members the office’s FY26 requests include eight enhancement items.
The largest ongoing ask is $400,000 for the voter guide—$300,000 for mailing and $100,000 for printing—so the office can distribute candidate and election information in both primary and general elections. Secretary Phil McGrane said providing a voter guide is his top policy initiative, pointing to public polling showing strong demand for such information. “There’s a strong demand for it,” McGrane said, noting prior success with an Idaho voter pamphlet that did not include candidate material.
Other requests include one‑time double‑fill funding to overlap a retiring deputy business director and train a successor; $287,100 in ongoing funding for software‑as‑a‑service subscriptions (campaign finance, lobbyist software and website plugins), and $26,000 one‑time to cover an upgrade fee tied to the motor vehicle database the office uses for voter validation. The office reported a $775,000 base budget for software subscriptions and cloud storage and requested modest ongoing funding for IT training and postage inflation tied to printed publications.
McGrane described operational successes since the election investments began: campaign finance and lobbyist reporting systems were modernized and a new VoteIdaho site supported the most recent election. He said the office has an active RFP to upgrade the core election management system used by all 44 counties; bids are being evaluated and estimated vendor costs range from about $5.6 million to $9.4 million. The office said roughly $7.1 million remained from the $10 million one‑time appropriation to help cover the next steps.
Committee members asked about frequency of the voter guide and the one‑time nature of the DMV upgrade fee; McGrane explained the primary/general election timing intersects with the state fiscal year and that the DMV vendor charged a one‑time upgrade fee while ongoing access remains subscription based. No formal committee action was recorded during the hearing.
