Some members of Houston City Council raised concerns about the cost of special elections after approving a $1.4 million price tag for the District C special election.
The cost
On April 15, council passed an ordinance that would pay Harris County $1.4 million for the April 4 District C special election to replace council member Abbie Kamin, who is running for Harris County attorney.
At-large Position 3 council member Twila Carter said the city is paying “astronomical” prices for these elections. She used the last special election for at-large Position 4, which replaced Letitia Plummer with council member Alejandra Salinas, as an example.
“I think we spent $7 million,” Carter said. “Those are heavy-duty numbers for as few people who vote.”
The April 4 special election, which ended in a runoff, saw over 9,400 people voting, according to Harris County election results. The district has over 169,000 registered voters, which equates to about 5.5% of voters.
Of the $1.4 million for the April 4 election, the funding went toward expenses for polling locations, ballots, election workers and administrative support. The city of Houston will pay the actual cost of the election under its contract agreement with the county, although Harris County runs the election.
Breaking it down
Kamin agreed with Carter and said they are limited by state law.
“When you want to have elections on the same day, state law precludes that because it’s different types of elections,” Kamin said. “It puts not only the workers in a tough place, it also puts a strain on voters. It’s not easy.”
Kamin said in some instances, voters may have to go to different polling locations for different elections to cast their ballots.
District E council member Fred Flickinger gave an example of how difficult access may be.
“The runoff we had a couple of years ago in the Kingwood area, there was actually one poll in Montgomery County, and the dollars we spent per voter was insane,” Flickinger said. “So yeah, I think it would be nice if maybe we could make the state look at this and see if we can do something a little better and still give everyone access.”
What’s next
No official decisions have been made in reaching out to the state about the cost of elections. The special election runoff will be held May 16, and voters will decide between Nick Hellyar and Joe Panzarella, who will represent District C until January 2028.
