Cost of a Cape Girardeau County special election

Special elections can cost tens of thousands of dollars, said Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers on Thursday.

Missouri Secretary of State John "Jay" Ashcroft last week called on Gov. Mike Parson to schedule special votes to fill current vacancies in the Missouri House of Representatives.

There were six seats in the General Assembly's lower chamber unfilled as of presstime, including that of Cape Girardeau's District 147, left vacant by the resignation Jan. 2 of Wayne Wallingford, now the director of the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Parson has said he will not call any special elections "at this time."

Summers said if a special election for District 147 had been called in conjunction with the April municipal election, utilizing cost-share options with other races and referenda, the estimated additional cost would be $35,000 to $40,000.

If a standalone election was deemed necessary, Summers said, the cost would be between $50,000 and $60,000.

Summers said many costs are factored into holding elections, including election judge pay, polling location rental, printing of ballots, election equipment programming costs, statutory newspaper publication requirements, truck rental for delivery of election equipment and supplies to polling places, election supply costs, postage for absentee ballots, permanent disabled ballot applications and election judge assignments.

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