Erie County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz today issued an audit of the Erie County Board of Elections ("Board") for the period starting October 1, 2004 and ending September 30, 2005. The review was initiated by Comptroller Poloncarz's predecessor in October 2005 at the request of the Erie County Legislature and Executive. The audit examined staffing and operational issues relating to the conduct of elections.

"Our review determined that the Board's staffing structure of 36 full-time employees is sufficient to meet normal election requirements if supplemented by appropriate part-time and seasonal employees," said Poloncarz. "However, our auditors determined that the Board does not have sufficient funding for part-time employees to meet 2006 election responsibilities and that additional funding will likely be necessary to meet federal electoral mandates under the Help America Vote Act ("HAVA")."

Poloncarz expressed concerns over the Board's ability to conduct, within its current appropriation, the February 28th Special Election for the New York State Senate, September Primary Election, and November General Election. Poloncarz stated, "The Board's 2006 Budget appropriation is not sufficient to meet the new expenses incurred by the County under HAVA, and additional funding will be necessary." The audit reports that HAVA costs to Erie County in 2006 will be at least $1.4 million, and likely higher.

HAVA is the federal legislation passed in the wake of the 2000 Presidential Election requiring state and local elections officials to implement certain procedures to safeguard elections. In New York State, this includes transferring election responsibilities and those respective expenses from cities and towns to the County.

Poloncarz pointed to the audit's recommendation that the Board work with the Erie County Legislature expeditiously to establish the 2006 election inspector pay rate. "With the special election for the New York State Senate seat to be held in four weeks, it is imperative that the Legislature and Board establish the 2006 pay rate to ensure inspectors are in place and trained for the special election."

Additionally, Poloncarz noted that the audit made numerous recommendations as to how Board management could run its activities more efficiently. Poloncarz stated, "Our review found that numerous activities were being neglected, partially because of the reduction of staff, but also due to the lack of methods to confirm actions taken by employees. We recommend that the Board establish a plan to address the day-to-day responsibilities of its workers in order to properly assign staff to projects, which we believe will reduce overtime expenses, as well as create internal controls for certain transactions processed by Board staff, which will allow management to better monitor employee productivity."

In addition to the completed Board audit, the Erie County Comptroller's Office is conducting an audit of cellular and other wireless devices and usage in Erie County government, as well as an audit of the payroll and purchase functions at Erie Community College.