13. IRV will not create any increased burdens for local polling officials correction

Some might worry that the retabulation of ballots will require local polling officials to stay up late into the night and impose an unreasonable burden. As proposed in H.665, none of the new retabulation responsibilities would be placed on local polling officials. They would do nothing differently than they do currently: counting first-choice preferences and reporting to the Secretary of State. There is no need to buy any new vote tabulating machines. All of the "complex" elements of IRV are proposed to be handled like a statewide recount: by a committee appointed by the court, sometime after the voting day. These "complexities" only come into play when there is no majority first-choice winner. In elections with an initial majority winner, there is no administrative burden or even cost in using IRV.

Recognizing that IRV for statewide races will cause no increased workload for local polling officials, John Cushing, chair of the legislative committee of the Vermont Town Clerk and Treasurers Association, testified to the House Local Government Committee that they have no problem with such a reform. Speaking personally, Mr. Cushing said he favored IRV since it keeps the election of the Governor "in the hands of the people."

Poll workers will likely need to answer more questions than usual during the first couple of elections using new IRV ballots. The voter education campaign, with sample ballots, would probably need to extend through the election day.