RivCo's $14.55 Million Election Budget Approved

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a final budget of $14.55 million to cover all expenses that the Riverside County Office of the Registrar of Voters may incur for staffing, transportation of ballots and other necessities tied to next week's General Election.

In a 5-0 vote without comment Tuesday, the board authorized the allocations, roughly 84% of which will be drawn from the General Fund, with the remainder coming from a state distribution stemming from legislation signed into law by the governor in June to aid counties in paying for additional temporary election workers.

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"The funding is necessary to allow the registrar to have the appropriate resources to successfully conduct the Nov. 3 General Election," according to an agency statement posted to the board's agenda.

When the board approved the county's 2026-27 fiscal year budget in June, the supervisors were informed that election expenses were not completely factored into the spending plan, but that Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco would be returning later for additional outlays.

Tinoco last week submitted the funding request for the election, based on estimated costs. It's possible there will be overhanging expenses in the post-election period, stemming from unknown variables, including delayed ballot processing, recount requests and litigation.

Any further funding needs by the agency would have to be addressed by the board.

According to the Office of the Registrar of Voters, the current funding will pay for about 2,500 workers, including around 160 temporary employees added to the county payrolls specifically to support election-related functions.

The money will also be disbursed for "the secure transport of equipment to vote centers, materials and supplies to support the operation of both secure ballot drop-off sites and vote centers, on-site security personnel and other related election activities," the registrar stated.

Last weekend, the first 21 vote centers opened, enabling registered voters to stop by and submit their ballots electronically via Dominion touchscreen units, fill out paper ballots on-site and leave them with Office of the Registrar of Voters personnel, or simply drop their completed vote-by-mail ballots.

An additional 131 vote centers are slated to open Saturday countywide.

Since the start of October, more than 100 "secure drop box" locations where voters can leave their ballots for pickup by registrar staff, rather than mailing them, have been available, according to agency.

Ballots must be received or postmarked no later than Nov. 3 in order to be counted, according to the California Secretary of State's Office.

There are 1.43 million registered voters in the county. According to the registrar, the participation rate in the June primary was 38%Further details are available at www.voteinfo.net.