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Registrar: early voting and aging poll books drive election office costs
Summary
Allison Robbins, Wise County Director of Elections, told supervisors that no‑excuse absentee (early voting) and repair/replacement of voting systems — including the planned replacement of electronic poll books — are major unavoidable costs, leaving little room for cuts without affecting legally required election functions.
Allison Robbins, Director of Elections and General Registrar for Wise County, told the Board the department’s budget is driven by legally mandated work and the growing cost of running long ballot cycles.
"I'm Allison Robbins. I'm the Director of Elections and General Registrar for Wise County," Robbins said, explaining that the 45‑day no‑excuse absentee (early voting) requirement in Virginia lengthens the period her office must staff early voting sites and increases programming, printing and postage costs for ballots. She also notified the board that the county plans to replace electronic poll books this year because the current units have exceeded life expectancy and are no longer updateable.
Robbins said maintenance contracts, repairs to voting machines and postage for absentee ballots are routine drivers of her budget and that she intends to spend only what is necessary to meet legal requirements: "I will do what I've always done, which is only spend the money that I have to spend to conduct the elections that were required to conduct. But I don't necessarily see anywhere where I could guarantee we take away money that I wouldn't then be coming straight back to you and saying, sorry. We need this."
Board members pressed for any modest savings she could identify; Robbins said she could not recommend reductions that would preserve compliance and voter access. She flagged one-time equipment replacements as nondeferrable and offered to minimize other discretionary purchases.
