Whoops

The Governor called the special election. The Governor promised the state would pay for it.

But in the budget passed last week? No money for the special election. Guess who's left holding the bag?

Fund a special election

(Contra Costa Times) Like it or not, California is scheduled to hold a special election on Nov. 8, the sixth of its kind in state history. What is still unclear is who is going to pay the tab, the state or California's 58 counties.
The total cost was once estimated at $80 million. However, because the special election will be consolidated with already scheduled local elections in some counties, the cost will be about $45 million, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson told the Times Editorial Board on Friday. That is still a lot of money for some counties.
Gov. Schwarzenegger's proclamation for the election said the state would take care of those expenses to avoid additional burden on county elections offices.
Unfortunately, the Legislature did not include the extra funds in the budget it adopted last week. The Democratic majority has long opposed a special election, which is likely why the money was omitted.

It will be interesting to see what happens. The counties are impoverished; in many cases they simply don't have the funds to pay for a special election. At least one county registrar has said that she won't hold the special election unless the state funds it or she receives a court order (though she's not against doing a little time).

What happens when multiple counties announce that they're simply unable (or largely unable but totally unwilling) to pay?

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Whoops

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