SOUTH BEND — County election officials Tuesday announced the final cost of the Nov. 3 special election: about $1 per vote.

The cost, about $25,612, was announced at the regular meeting of the St. Joseph County Election Board.

Nearly 21,000 people voted in the election, held to decide the fate of a proposed regional transportation district.

The measure failed by more than 19,000 votes.

“I think we did the best we could under the circumstances,” board member James Korpal said, “and I think the St. Joseph County taxpayers came out winners.”

The total came in below pre-election estimates of $30,000 to $40,000.

Typically, elections cost the county about $300,000. But officials were able to minimize costs by reducing the number of polling places and utilizing low-tech voting methods.

Those moves caused some confusion for officials and voters, but apparently few mistakes.

Election officials issued only two certificates of error during voting, board member Rita Glenn said. Both involved missing voter information in the county’s poll books.

Staff writer Erin Blasko:
eblasko@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6187