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Board of Elections seeks $809,341 increase for FY27 as staff readies for June 23 primary
Summary
The County Executive's FY27 proposal would add $809,341 to the Board of Elections budget for election‑year needs including election‑judge stipends, 69 seasonal hires, licensing and maintenance for a new election‑worker management system, overtime, and other operational costs; BOE leaders described preparations for a June 23 primary and a pilot risk‑limiting audit.
Council staff summarized the County Executive's FY27 recommendations for the Board of Elections, saying the proposal includes an $809,341 increase from FY26. Staff detailed six items: $200,000 for election‑judge stipends; $167,319 to hire 69 seasonal temporary staff; $112,400 for licensing and software for a new election‑worker management system (the system went live in March); $24,453 for maintenance/support of that system; $59,860 for overtime; and a $292 inflationary adjustment for nonprofit service contracts. Staff recommended concurring with the Executive's proposals.
David Naaman, president of the Board of Elections (David Naaman), and Election Director Boris Brakevich (Election Director Boris Brakevich) briefed the committee on operational readiness. Naaman said the June 23 primary means some work will carry into FY27 and stressed the need to be prepared for a statewide pilot of a risk‑limiting audit. "We will not wrap up primary election in this fiscal year," Naaman said, noting the county must be prepared to staff and resource the carryover work.
BOE described voter‑education and logistics steps: multilingual voter guides (state law requires additional languages and BOE obtained waivers to add French and Korean), about 300 outreach events per year, 58 drop boxes in the same locations as 2024, 14 early‑voting sites, and a new election worker system used for training, scheduling, and assignments. BOE staff said recruitment remains active for election judges (including incentives to reach parity between parties), that 16–17‑year‑old registered voters may serve as paid election judges, and that the office will push texting and sample‑ballot tools to reduce confusion about polling places. BOE also reported a high ORESJ score of 11/11 and said the office has a pilot to monitor equity in outreach.
