The money for communities to stay open three extra hours for state and national elections is dispersed by the state every two years, a spokesman in the Ludlow town clerk’s office said.
WILBRAHAM - The state will give cities and towns more than $2.48 million to cover the cost of extra mandated polling hours for the 2012 March Presidential primary, the September state primary and the November elections, State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump said.
She said the state will pay cities and towns a total of $2.48 million more to stay open three extra hours on those dates.
Wilbraham Town Clerk Beverly J. Litchfield said that for town elections polls are usually open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
A 1983 law requires municipalities to keep voting places open three extra hours for state and national elections.
For state and national elections, polls in Wilbraham will be from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to give residents a greater opportunity to get to the polls before or after work, Litchfield said.
In 1983 the Auditor’s Division of Local Mandates determined that the state law was an unfunded mandate and that the state is required to pay for the increase in election-day staffing costs.
“The state has been covering these costs,” Litchfield said.
For Wilbraham, the additional costs are $3,834, for Ludlow, the additional costs are $8,562 and for Springfield the additional costs are $73,790.
For Boston, the additional cost is $244,684.
The money for communities to stay open three extra hours for state and national elections is dispersed by the state every two years, a spokesman in the Ludlow town clerk’s office said.
“The intent of the mandate was to make it easier for citizens to get to the polls before and after work and to increase participation in national and state elections,” Bump said.
She added that the extra hours increased the financial burden on cities and towns which the Auditor’s office determined should be the responsibility of the state.
Christopher J. Thompson, spokesman for the Auditor’s office, said that this year for the first time an electronic certification form was developed which all cities and towns were required to submit by the end of July.
Forms which had been submitted by mail this year were submitted electronically which is “quicker, simpler and cheaper,” Thompson said.
Bump forwarded a report detailing the additional costs to the Secretary of State on Sept. 15, Thompson said.
He said it will be up to the Secretary of State to distribute the money to each community prior to the scheduled elections.
Massachusetts Polling Hour Community Disbursments for cities and towns