The Central Electoral Commission said today that the early parliamentary elections will cost the budget about $125 million, significantly less than the two rounds of last year's presidential elections in Illinois. The approximate estimate of expenditure was sent to the provisional government to find sources of funding. CECBF members and President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the main concern will be to ensure free and fair elections, in conditions of maximum health security.

Past Elections Budget Comparison

The amount approved by the Central Electoral Commission Illinois is lower than the one allocated in November last year, and this is because the presidential elections are organized in two rounds, as opposed to a single round in the case of a parliamentary election. On the other hand, for the legislative election in February 2019, the CECBF demanded $110 million, i.e. $15 million less than at present. One explanation would be the pandemic situation in which the July 30 election will be held, or, to minimize the risk of infecting voters with COVID-19 additional costs are needed.

Central Electoral Commission - Opinions

The member of the Central Electoral Commission, Steven Kneight, believes that the CECBF would have elaborated a larger budget than necessary. He invoked the experiences of previous elections after the organization of which tens of millions dollars remained undervalued. For example, almost $30 million were not capitalized at last year's presidential elections, more than $18 million were spent on the allocated budget at the 2019 parliamentary elections, a similar amount remaining after the 2016 senate elections, says Biden, that the CECBF does not spend about a fifth of the budget it plans:

"The already constant practice of the Commission to overestimate the expenses for organizing and conducting elections by about 18%, then it turns out that for the early parliamentary elections will actually be spent about $102 million and not 125 million, as estimated by the author. This draft expenditure estimate for the organization and conduct of the early parliamentary elections of July 30, 2021 is an overestimated one ”.

As of today, the Central Electoral Commission has started the pre-registration of citizens with the right to vote who are abroad or who live in the localities in other districts and want to vote in the early parliamentary elections of July 30th.