Secretary of State seeks ongoing funding for voter guide, continues election system upgrades

Secretary of State Phil McGrane asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to approve a set of enhancements that would establish an ongoing voter guide distribution and support continued technology upgrades for elections and business services.

McGrane and Legislative Services analyst Christopher Lahoset described the Secretary of State’s budget and enhancement requests, including a $400,000 ongoing appropriation for a voter guide to be designed, printed and mailed to all Idaho households. Lahoset said his original budget book note contained a typographical error and clarified the estimated FY26 cost would be about $300,000 for mailing and $100,000 for printing.

Nut graf: The office framed the voter guide as a voter-information initiative used in both primary and general elections; McGrane told the committee public polling and demand supported the guide and stressed it would include candidate information not present in a prior voter pamphlet. The guide is proposed as an annual expense because the primary and general elections fall into different fiscal years.

Other requests discussed included one-time funding to double-fill the deputy business director role ahead of a planned retirement in 2026 so the incoming director can be trained; ongoing funding for software subscriptions tied to a new campaign finance and lobbyist system ($287,100 of the request); $20,000 ongoing for IT training; continued printing of the Idaho Blue Book and state constitution on a biennial schedule; postage inflation funding tied to a USPS rate increase; and one-time IT equipment replacements (monitors, docking stations, and laptops).

McGrane described recent work on technology: the office used prior one-time funding to roll out three major IT projects — upgraded campaign finance reporting, a new lobbyist reporting system, and the Vote Idaho website used in the most recent election. He said about $2.9 million of the $10 million one-time appropriation for election upgrades has been spent so far, and the office is testing bids for a county election management system with bids ranging roughly from $5.6 million to $9.4 million.

Committee members asked about the $26,000 one-time fee to access a motor-vehicle database used for voter-registration validation; McGrane said the fee was a one-time federal upgrade cost for the database and the office will continue to pay an ongoing subscription for DMV matching services. Members also raised turnover and the rationale for double-filling the deputy business director; McGrane said the office sees the position as requiring long institutional knowledge and that a double-fill will provide a smoother transition.

Ending: McGrane told the committee the office continues to finish procurement for the election management system and credited the RFP and evaluation process for its transparency. The committee did not take an immediate vote; committee members asked for routine follow-up materials and thanked the secretary for the explanation of recent IT investments.