SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom has said a special redistricting election in November — his answer to Texas Republicans redrawing their congressional districts to favor their party — would require “significantly less resources” than a typical statewide special election because “many” local elections are happening at the same time.

“That could be very meaningful in mitigating the cost,” he told reporters during a July 31 news conference. Newsom implied that, since counties are already holding elections in November, the question of redrawing congressional maps could be added to ballots that are already going out.

Elections officials up and down the state say it’s not so simple.

While it is true that 15 of the state’s 58 counties have some form of election scheduled for Nov. 4, the majority are for small pockets of the region — such as for municipal water boards or school districts — and elections officials say their costs would barely be offset, if at all, by a concurrent election. Several officials say they still estimate their costs would be about equal to the last time they put on a statewide election, and there could be added costs due to inflation and a tight turnaround.

In Fresno County, about 500 of the county’s roughly 525,000 registered voters are slated to weigh in on who should serve on a water district board. In Plumas County, a school board election is planned for a district with a population of 2,500 of the county’s roughly 13,000 voters. Election officials in Sonoma County don’t yet know if they will have enough candidates to hold a race for a small number of boards, but they have scheduled an election just in case.

How much would a special election actually cost?

A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office estimates the bill for the statewide election would still be north of $200 million, more than it cost to hold the Newsom recall election in 2021, when there were no other elections taking place. Most of the costs associated with an election are related to printing ballots and envelopes.

“Inflation has gone pretty wild in the last four or five years,” said spokesperson Jim Patrick.

In Plumas County for instance, Registrar of Voters Marcy DeMartile estimates a special election in November could cost her county about $65,000 — only $3,000 less than the county spent in 2021 — even with a school board election already planned for some voters, and ballots consolidated.

“Costs are higher,” DeMartile said. “Paper is higher, printing is higher, postage is higher.”

Elections officials would also incur costs and time pressures involved with identifying and booking vote centers and soliciting enough volunteer workers to man in-person polls.

The discussion is mostly hypothetical until and unless the California Legislature actually calls a special election, which they must do by August 22. Newsom is clear the election would only take place if Texas lawmakers are able to pass their gerrymandered maps, which they want to redraw to nab more Republican seats in Congress, at President Donald Trump’s behest.

Elections officials are already preparing just in case, and the Secretary of State has told them the probability of a special November election is “highly likely.”

Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the negligible impact concurrent elections would have on the price tag of a statewide vote.

However, the governor has been dismissive of the cost, telling reporters during the aforementioned news conference that it pales in comparison to the “democracy,” “values,” and “rule of law” that are preserved by countering Texas.

“It’s a Mastercard commercial — priceless.”

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