July 1, 2021

The Honorable Gavin Newsom, Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D.

Governor of California Secretary of State

Honorable Nancy Skinner, Chair Honorable Phil Ting, Chair

Joint Legislative Budget Committee Assembly Budget Committee
Senate Budget and Fiscal Review
Committee
Honorable Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
Honorable Anthony Portantino, Chair Assembly Appropriations Committee
Senate Appropriations Committee

Gubernatorial Recall Election Costs

On June 23, 2021, the Secretary of State notified the Department of Finance that a
sufficient number of verified signatures had been submitted to initiate a recall election
against the Governor (see Attachment I). Pursuant to Elections Code section 11108,
subdivision (d), Finance is required to consult with the affected county elections officials
and the Secretary of State to estimate the costs of the recall election and submit the
estimate to the Governor, the Secretary of State, and the Chairperson of the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee.

As required by section 11108, subdivision (d), this estimate considers costs that would be
incurred under two scenarios: (1) if the recall election is held as a special election, and
(2) if the recall election is consolidated with the next regularly scheduled election
pursuant to subdivision (b) of section 15 of Article II of the California Constitution. This
estimate includes expenses for verifying signatures, printing ballots and voter
information guides, and operating polling places.

Estimated Costs for Special Election

On June 10, 2021, Finance notified the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that the
estimated costs reported by counties to administer a statewide special recall election
were $215.2 million. Finance gathered these estimated costs to support legislative
consideration for inclusion in the budget, as requested by a coalition of county
organizations and the Legislature.

Subsequently, Chapter 34, Statutes of 2021 (SB 152) made changes to how the 2021
gubernatorial recall election will be held, including requiring it to be held as a regular
 -2-

election. As a result, Finance requested updated cost estimates from counties to

administer the recall election under the provisions of SB 152. The updated estimated
costs provided by counties are $243.6 million, an increase of $28.4 million from the
previous estimate submitted to the Legislature. In addition, the Secretary of State
estimates costs of $32.4 million to administer the recall election (see Attachment II).

Therefore, the total estimated state and county costs to administer the recall election
under this scenario is $276 million. Of this amount, a total of $250.2 million has been
appropriated in 2021-22 for this purpose—$215.2 million in section 16.00 of the Budget
Act of 2021, Chapter 21, Statutes of 2021 (AB 128), and $35 million in SB 152. The
Legislature determined the appropriation in AB 128 to be reasonably necessary to
conduct the recall election and designated those funds for that purpose.

Estimated Costs for Consolidated Election

Finance also collected estimated costs if the recall election is consolidated with the
next regularly scheduled election pursuant to subdivision (b) of section 15 of Article II of
the California Constitution. Counties reported estimated costs of $66.8 million and the
Secretary of State estimated costs of $23.8 million to administer the recall election under
this scenario. Therefore, total estimated costs to administer the recall election if it is
consolidated with the next regularly scheduled election are $90.6 million.

See Attachment III for a comparison of the initial estimated county costs provided to
the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on June 10, 2021, the estimated costs for an
election conducted under SB 152, and the estimated costs for a consolidated election.

Pursuant to Elections Code section 11108, subdivision (e), as amended by SB 152, the
Secretary of State must certify the sufficiency of the signatures as required under
Elections Code section 11109 once Finance has submitted the required estimate and
either (1) the Joint Legislative Budget Committee has had 30 days to review and
comment on the estimate, or (2) the Legislature has appropriated funds that it
determines are reasonably necessary to conduct the recall election and has
designated funds for that purpose in the Budget Act or in another statute.

If you have any questions or need additional information regarding this matter, please
call Tim Weber, Principal Program Budget Analyst, at (916) 445-8913.

KEELY MARTIN BOSLER

Director
By:

ERIKA LI
Chief Deputy Director

Attachment

cc: On following page

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cc: Honorable Jim Nielsen, Vice Chair, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee
Honorable Vince Fong, Vice Chair, Assembly Budget Committee
Gabriel Petek, Legislative Analyst (3)
Joe Stephenshaw, Staff Director, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee
Kirk Feely, Fiscal Director, Senate Republican Fiscal Office
Christopher W. Woods, Senate President pro Tempore's Office (2)
Christian Griffith, Chief Consultant, Assembly Budget Committee
Joseph Shinstock, Fiscal Director, Assembly Republican Caucus, Office of Policy
and Budget
Paul Dress, Caucus Co-Chief of Staff, Assembly Republican Leader’s Office
Luigi Luciano, Legislative Director, Assembly Republican Leader’s Office
Jason Sisney, Assembly Speaker's Office (2)
Mark McKenzie, Staff Director, Senate Appropriations Committee
Jay Dickenson, Chief Consultant, Assembly Appropriations Committee
 Attachment I

SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D.| SECRETARY OF STATE | STATE OF CALIFORNIA

EXECUTIVE OFFICE
1500 11th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 | Tel 916.653.7244 | Fax 916.653.4620 | www.sos.ca.gov

June 23, 2021

Keely Martin Bosler, Director

Department of Finance
915 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Ms. Bosler,

The signatures on the petition to recall Governor Gavin Newsom were verified and the
petition was determined to have a sufficient number of signatures on April 26, 2021. On
that date, a supplemental signature withdrawal period was provided pursuant to statute
and ended on June 8, 2021. County elections officials have reported on or before June
22, 2021, the total number of signatures withdrawn in each of their respective counties
which have been removed from the total number of valid signatures statewide.

Accordingly, the Secretary of State is hereby notifying the Department of Finance that the
proponents of the recall effort against Governor Gavin Newsom have submitted a
sufficient number of valid signatures to initiate a recall election.

Pursuant to Elections Code section 11108(d), the Department of Finance, in consultation

with county elections officials and the Secretary of State, must estimate the costs of the
recall election and submit the estimate to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary
of State, and the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by August 5,
2021.

The Department of Finance’s estimates must include the costs that would be incurred if
the recall election is held as a special election and if it is consolidated with the next
regularly scheduled election, and must include expenses for verifying signatures, printing
ballots and voter information guides, and operating polling places. As required by law,
the Department of Finance’s estimate of recall costs must be posted on the Secretary of
State’s website and printed in the state voter information guide.

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) has 30 calendar days to review and
comment on the Department of Finance’s estimate. Pursuant to Elections Code section
11108(g), after the JLBC’s 30-day review period has expired, the Director of Finance shall
direct the Controller to remit to the affected elections officials from those funds designated
for that purpose in any budget act or other measure an amount that takes into
consideration the amount of funds available for the purpose, the number of elections
officials expected to conduct state recall elections held in that fiscal year, the
 Attachment I
Keely Martin Bosler
June 23, 2021
Page 2

Department of Finance’s estimates of the costs of each elections official to conduct each
state recall election, and the amount reasonably necessary to conduct the recall election.

Should you have any questions, please contact my office.

Sincerely,

Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D.

Secretary of State
 Attachment II

Standalone Consolidated
Secretary of State Recall Costs
Election Election

Voter Information Guide $ 9,206,312 $ 5,658,046

Printing $ 6,740,587 $ 4,142,653
Mailing $ 2,465,725 $ 1,515,394

Voter Hotline Support $ 651,629 $ 542,216

Temporary Contracted Workers $ 455,268 $ 455,268
Student Assistants $ 124,569 $ 15,155
Retired Annuitant Supervisors $ 71,792 $ 71,792

Elections Overtime $ 105,000 $ 105,000

ITD Costs $ 270,658 $ -

Election Night Reporting Infrastructure $ 134,024 $ -
Enhanced cyber security $ 87,082 $ -
Emergency phones $ 2,879 $ -
Pollworker Recruitment Portal $ 46,672 $ -

Ballot tracking $ 210,000 $ -

Los Angeles Support $ 989,630 $ -

Synch VoteCal/EMS Support $ 589,630
Consultant Support $ 400,000

Election Observation $ 180,000 $ -

Voter's Choice Act (VCA) Program $ 2,998,173 $ -

Local Assistance Grants to Counties $ 1,898,173
Sub-Grants to CBOs/ hard-to-reach populations $ 550,000
State Operations and Administration $ 550,000

Headquarters $ 297,256 $ 6,300

Security - CHP $ 10,000 $ 3,000
Security - Platinium $ 11,000 $ 3,300
Security - City of Sacramento $ 600 $ -
Postage - USPS $ 200,000 $ -
Postage - Fed-Ex $ 50,000 $ -
Overtime - DGS Building Staff $ 7,272 $ -
Overtime - SOS Building Staff $ 3,384 $ -
Health Screening $ 15,000 $ -
 Attachment II

Communications/Office of Cybersecurity $ 17,500,000 $ 17,500,000

Production/Shoots $ 1,000,000 $ 1,000,000
Outreach - Text Messaging $ 1,000,000 $ 1,000,000
Paid Communication - Digital Ads $ 5,750,000 $ 5,750,000
Paid Communication - Direct Mail $ 500,000 $ 500,000
Paid Communication - Print Ads/Billboards $ 250,000 $ 250,000
Paid Communication Real-time Crisis Response
$ 250,000 $ 250,000
Paid Communication - TV/Cable/Radio $ 8,000,000 $ 8,000,000
Translation - Real-time Translation Services $ 500,000 $ 500,000
Vendor support - Campaign Management/Data
Analysis $ 250,000 $ 250,000

Total Cost $ 32,408,658 $ 23,811,562

 Attachment III

Estimated Election Estimated Election Estimated

County Costs as of Costs under Consolidated
June 10, 2021 SB 152 Election Costs
Alameda County $ 20,970,518 $ 21,013,151 $ 1,877,313
Alpine County $ 41,250 $ 41,950 $ 4,125
Amador County $ 113,440 $ 119,440 $ 113,440
Butte County $ 785,575 $ 958,450 $ 204,077
Calaveras County $ 189,597 $ 194,197 $ 30,575
Colusa County $ 90,745 $ 101,395 $ 14,650
Contra Costa County $ 4,536,800 $ 5,506,800 $ 1,140,000
Del Norte County* $ 120,447 $ 120,447 $ 20,626
El Dorado County $ 441,778 $ 879,750 $ 349,550
Fresno County $ 3,980,000 $ 4,072,000 $ 1,773,000
Glenn County $ 198,645 $ 198,645 $ 50,047
Humboldt County $ 558,800 $ 585,300 $ 159,080
Imperial County $ 410,500 $ 490,165 $ 410,500
Inyo County $ 97,777 $ 97,777 $ 19,562
Kern County $ 2,500,032 $ 2,916,032 $ 250,000
Kings County $ 515,473 $ 546,497 $ 357,484
Lake County $ 289,025 $ 306,275 $ 95,108
Lassen County $ 74,700 $ 74,700 $ -
Los Angeles County $ 49,154,000 $ 59,793,000 $ 28,569,000
Madera County $ 654,000 $ 743,800 $ 501,312
Marin County $ 1,462,919 $ 1,617,392 $ 681,859
Mariposa County $ 56,626 $ 64,275 $ 7,000
Mendocino County $ 293,004 $ 293,004 $ 87,901
Merced County $ 1,108,813 $ 1,108,813 $ 1,209,214
Modoc County $ 36,230 $ 39,230 $ 17,310
Mono County $ 189,307 $ 189,307 $ 75,479
Monterey County $ 2,944,401 $ 2,944,401 $ 1,356,401
Napa County $ 557,156 $ 557,156 $ 564,398
Nevada County $ 592,431 $ 717,006 $ 127,058
Orange County $ 6,903,631 $ 7,778,712 $ 5,544,325
Placer County $ 1,674,950 $ 2,251,950 $ 505,030
Plumas County $ 74,231 $ 74,231 $ 25,377
Riverside County $ 5,000,000 $ 5,000,000 $ 1,250,000
Sacramento County $ 5,315,807 $ 8,039,888 $ 609,722
San Benito County $ 390,597 $ 449,250 $ 39,339
San Bernardino County $ 32,068,216 $ 33,898,412 $ 1,909,973
San Diego County $ 20,000,000 $ 21,800,000 $ 1,600,000
San Francisco County $ 8,296,339 $ 8,985,238 $ 1,227,650
San Joaquin County $ 4,098,970 $ 6,579,551 $ 2,171,835
San Luis Obispo County $ 1,173,430 $ 1,173,430 $ 182,100
 Attachment III

Estimated Election Estimated Election Estimated

County Costs as of Costs under Consolidated
June 10, 2021 SB 152 Election Costs
San Mateo County $ 3,964,000 $ 4,330,000 $ 546,000
Santa Barbara County $ 2,374,503 $ 2,836,509 $ 550,506
Santa Clara County $ 14,478,054 $ 16,127,225 $ 4,223,213
Santa Cruz County $ 1,282,996 $ 1,360,996 $ 482,629
Shasta County $ 1,130,776 $ 1,207,876 $ 686,397
Sierra County $ 19,200 $ 24,700 $ 1,536
Siskiyou County $ 330,598 $ 330,598 $ 158,575
Solano County $ 2,991,426 $ 2,991,426 $ 156,911
Sonoma County $ 1,406,563 $ 1,454,863 $ 301,313
Stanislaus County $ 1,987,903 $ 1,708,212 $ 2,827,895
Sutter County $ 345,961 $ 345,961 $ 29,024
Tehama County $ 171,914 $ 180,314 $ 164,432
Trinity County $ 111,927 $ 137,138 $ 10,073
Tulare County $ 1,373,550 $ 1,685,537 $ 1,017,043
Tuolumne County $ 181,000 $ 206,750 $ 15,500
Ventura County $ 3,783,214 $ 4,288,976 $ 266,580
Yolo County $ 1,036,750 $ 1,729,200 $ 114,043
Yuba County $ 303,009 $ 316,009 $ 151,505
Total County Costs $ 215,233,505 $ 243,583,308 $ 66,834,595

*Del Norte County’s costs reflect the estimate submitted as of June 10, 2021, prior to the
passage of SB 152.