Legislators at a National Conference of State Legislatures summit in Indianapolis this week were told by experts that state and local governments need to step up their game and roll in money to administer the handle the 2024 presidential election.

The additional cash would tackle issues like the shortage of poll workers, violent threats against election officials, and foreign cybersecurity threats.

This comes as public trust and election security are at risk following the same time as former US president Donald Trump is facing charges related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election while falsely claiming it was fraudulent.

To administer, presidential elections cost $2 billion to $5 billion nationally, but most of the US' 10,000 local jurisdictions are underfunded, according to Charles Stewart III, director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, during the conference. 

Administering costs include physical security for poll workers and election sites, while other risks entail high turnover among underpaid and stressed election administrators, social media and AI-spread disinformation, and the increasing number of post-election challenges and audits.

A report by Stewart states: "They (election officials) often express pride in pulling off the complicated logistical maneuvers necessary to conduct elections on a shoestring budget", adding: "One consequence ... is that services provided to voters vary considerably across the nation".

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Some states, he wrote, are offering voter guides and credible websites while others serve "only minimal services" and outdated resources.

Avoiding high turnouts 

The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) is a coalition made of red and blue states that share information beneficial to update voter rolls and remove ineligible voters.

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Over 30 states have signed up to join ERIC, but mostly red states such as Texas, Alabama, Virginia, and Missouri are leaving, and reasons are considered to be onerous and costly requirements for reaching out to inactive voters while others cite a false claim by Trump that ERIC "pumps the rolls' for Democrats and does nothing to clean them up."

Rachel Orey, associate director of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a DC think tank, voiced concern over an "alarming" turnover rate among staffers whose job is to administer elections at the county level — 50% in North Carolina since 2020 and nearly 75% in Kansas.

At the conference, she claimed that 2024 will be the first time "huge amounts of the election workforce" administer a "high-turnout presidential election", adding that low pay and a shortage of poll workers are demonstrating risks. 

Chad Ennis, vice president of the Honest Elections Project, said: "I know one county in Texas that wanted to hire 2,000 but was only able to hire 500". 

Liz Howard, a deputy director at the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, said at the conference: "The typical election official is a 50- to 64-year-old woman who makes about $50,000 a year", adding: "She's recently been informed that she's responsible for protecting our election infrastructure against well-funded foreign adversaries."

Howard continued: "She could be one of the local election officials who was reported being threatened, harassed, or abused for simply doing her job".

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"And being less than perfect at any one of the responsibilities that she has — which includes a cybersecurity expert, a master logistician, legal analyst, FOIA response bot, a de-escalation expert, and MacGyver — she's in danger of losing her job or having her entire family threatened."

'Panic buttons' and bullet-resistant glass 

Panelists on their part suggested more money towards elections to also avoid the controversial issue of private funding.

The National Conference of State Legislatures' website states that "Generally, elections are funded by state and local budgets — with occasional federal infusions," noting however that "to meet the additional needs during the pandemic, philanthropic funding for local election offices was made available by the Center for Tech and Civic Life, with donations from Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. Grants ranged from $5,000 to $19 million."

So far, 24 states have either limited or banned the use of private money, as Ennis says: "We think outside funding of election administration just reeks of potential for impropriety" while Howard proposes that election officials can take "clear steps" to improve their strength against both physical and virtual attacks.

Paper ballots should still be kept as a backup against cyberattacks and post-election audits while "panic buttons" and bullet-resistant glass at polling stations can be installed as well for safety.