Funding and budgets
Whether large or small, each election office is an organization that must function well year-round to meet the myriad responsibilities of administering elections. The necessary abilities include building a positive culture, navigating resource needs and effective staffing through hiring, training and management. Together, these operational competencies allow election offices to carry out their regular duties and foster a resilient organization capable of adapting to changing technologies, laws and voter needs. This is one of five standards that define excellence in election office operations. This draft standard will be updated based on feedback from the election community.
Standard
Your election office understands your operational needs, communicates those needs to key decision-makers, and manages budgets responsibly. To achieve this standard:
- You seek the knowledge and resources to understand your jurisdiction’s budgeting process.
- You develop an annual budget and a multiyear budget that reflect the baseline funding needs for your election office.
- You build a long-term aspirational budget that outlines your office’s funding needs to reach stretch goals.
- You make the case for funding to key decision-makers, including county, state and federal legislators.
- You seek additional appropriate sources of funding to support unmet expenses.
- You manage your office’s budget and make informed spending decisions throughout the fiscal year.
- You advocate for competitive compensation with regular pay increases.
- You monitor and plan for legislative changes that might impact your budget projections.
- You educate the public about the stewardship of resources and budgeting needs.
Why this standard matters
It is important that we are explicit about the underlying why for each standard. While not attached to measurements, the intended impact of an election department achieving this standard is that:
- Election departments play an active role in setting their office’s budget to match the needs and priorities in their jurisdiction.
- Election departments build relationships with decision-makers to advocate for their office and make it more likely that they will get needed funding.
- Election departments will proactively plan ahead to anticipate and meet long-term office needs.