The price of corruption

Jackson County Clerk Jerry Reinhardt says the cheapest alternative is to combine the special Senate election with the municipal election already scheduled for April 7. That would cost Jackson County taxpayers about $5,000. He says a separate election could cost up to $50,000.

“We’re one of just 110 election jurisdictions in the state so you can imagine the state wide cost of a total special election,” Reinhardt said.

If each of those jurisdictions spent just $50,000 on the special election, the statewide price tag would be more than $9.25 million. But Reinhardt says he prides himself on keeping election costs low and in order to get the true expense, one would have to add up the costs county-by-county.

Cook County Clerk David Orr says an election in his county alone would cost $12 million. A spokesman for the state board of elections estimates it could be more than $30 million for the entire state to hold an election.

No matter what the cost, the Jackson County clerk says the money just isn’t there.

“There’s just not that much of a buffer in anyone’s budget,” Reinhardt said. “If the state doesn’t fund the cost for each local jurisdiction, it’s going to cost something…services, jobs. We can’t come up with forty of fifty thousand dollars within Jackson County government.”