Editing Vote counting (section)

====Cost of scanning systems====
List prices of optical scanners in the US in 2002–2019, ranged from $5,000 to $111,000 per machine, depending primarily on speed. List prices add up to $1 to $4 initial cost per registered voter. Discounts vary, based on negotiations for each buyer, not on number of machines purchased. Annual fees often cost 5% or more per year, and sometimes over 10%. Fees for training and managing the equipment during elections are additional. Some jurisdictions lease the machines so their budgets can stay relatively constant from year to year. Researchers say that the steady flow of income from past sales, combined with barriers to entry, reduces the incentive for vendors to improve voting technology.<ref name="vv-price">{{Cite web |last=Caulfield |first=Matthew |author2=Andrew Coopersmith |author3=Arnav Jagasia |author4=Olivia Podos |date=2021-03-30 |title=Price of Voting |url=https://verifiedvoting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Price-of-Voting-FINAL2.pdf |website=Verified Voting}}</ref>

If most voters mark their own paper ballots and one marking device is available at each polling place for voters with disabilities, Georgia's total cost of machines and maintenance for 10 years, starting 2020, has been estimated at $12 per voter ($84 million total). Pre-printed ballots for voters to mark would cost $4 to $20 per voter ($113 million to $224 million total machines, maintenance and printing). The low estimate includes $0.40 to print each ballot, and more than enough ballots for historic turnout levels. the high estimate includes $0.55 to print each ballot, and enough ballots for every registered voter, including three ballots (of different parties) for each registered voter in primary elections with historically low turnout.<ref name="oset-reality">{{Cite web |url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5766827-OSET.html |title=Georgia State Election Technology Acquisition, A Reality Check |last=Perez |first=Edward |author2=Gregory Miller |date=March 2019 |website=OSET Institute |language=en |access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref><ref name="bmd-ga">{{Cite news |last=Fowler |first=Stephen |url=https://www.gpbnews.org/post/here-s-what-vendors-say-it-would-cost-replace-georgia-s-voting-system |title=Here's What Vendors Say It Would Cost To Replace Georgia's Voting System|work=Georgia Public Broadcasting |access-date=2020-02-28 |language=en}}</ref> The estimate is $29 per voter ($203 million total) if all voters use ballot marking devices, including $0.10 per ballot for paper.

The capital cost of machines in 2019 in Pennsylvania is $11 per voter if most voters mark their own paper ballots and a marking device is available at each polling place for voters with disabilities, compared to $23 per voter if all voters use ballot marking devices.<ref name="pitt cost">{{Cite web |url=https://www.cyber.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/PDFs/voting-system-selection-one-pager%20%282%29.pdf |title=Pennsylvania Counties' New Voting Systems Selections: An Analysis |last=Deluzio |first=Christopher |author2=Kevin Skoglund |date=2020-02-28 |website=University of Pittsburgh |access-date=2020-02-28 |archive-date=2020-06-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626032838/https://www.cyber.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/PDFs/voting-system-selection-one-pager%20(2).pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> This cost does not include printing ballots.

New York has an undated comparison of capital costs and a system where all voters use ballot marking devices costing over twice as much as a system where most do not. The authors say extra machine maintenance would exacerbate that difference, and printing cost would be comparable in both approaches.<ref name="bmdny">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nyvv.org/paperballotCostsMain.shtml |title=NYVV - Paper Ballots Costs |website=www.nyvv.org |access-date=2020-02-28 |archive-date=2020-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228224035/https://www.nyvv.org/paperballotCostsMain.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> Their assumption of equal printing costs differs from the Georgia estimates of $0.40 or $0.50 to print a ballot in advance, and $0.10 to print it in a ballot marking device.<ref name="oset-reality"/>