Election suggestion

County clerks seek early ballot access, voting centers

County clerks throughout Idaho are calling for new legislation to help ease the havoc the coronavirus pandemic has caused on election offices across the state.

“America has seen times of civil and world war, economic turbulence and pandemic,” says a letter that was signed by 43 of the state’s 44 county clerks. County clerks in Idaho oversee all of the state’s elections offices. “Through these difficult and disruptive times, elections have always been preserved. Today we face very real difficulties conducting elections in the midst of this global pandemic.”

The only county not to sign on was Camas County, whose clerk — Kori Blodgett, a civil servant at the courthouse for 29 years — died July 26.

The most recent example of challenging elections was the May 19 primary, an all-absentee event that flooded election offices across Idaho with ballots to process, pushing the actual election date out to June 2 to account for those who mailed their ballots at the last minute.

To quell the damage a similar or greater rush might duplicate, the clerks are asking legislators to pass a law empowering election offices to open and scan ballots once they arrive, rather than keep them untouched until Election Day.

Another suggestion the clerks want the Legislature to consider is the idea of county-wide voting centers, which would give easier access to voters who wish to exercise their rights in person.

“While this massive absentee voting shift occurs, the clerks will still be running an in-person election,” said Sara Westbrook, policy director for the Idaho Association of Counties, the organization that steered the drafting of the letter, “which comes with a different set of challenges some of which can be alleviated with the addition of vote centers that would allow voters to vote at any vote center in their county with on-demand ballots.”

The clerks added that even without the hardships COVID-19 is placing on voter and election officials alike, the job of maintaining elections is far from easy. But with the pandemic still gripping Idaho, the clerks came out in unified support for legislation to ease the burden on election offices across the state.

The Idaho Legislature will meet in a special session to debate, among other issues, how to hold elections during the pandemic. While some are calling for all-absentee again, others are hoping for in-person opportunities to vote. The legislative text that will be introduced is still being workshopped by lawmakers before Gov. Brad Little calls the special session to order Aug. 24.

Regardless of the language, the clerks are asking for leeway to operate more effectively as November looms, something that Shoshone County clerk Tamie Lewis-Eberhard said would help her office as the new election approaches.

“I fully support the proposed legislation including opening and scanning ballots once received and the concept of voting centers,” Lewis-Eberhard told The News-Press.

The group of clerks, communicating through the Idaho Association of Counties, estimates that — rather than the usual 10 percent of Idahoans voting absentee — the November election could see as much as 75 percent of voters use absentee ballots, a number that could swamp elections offices without the legislation the clerks are proposing.

“As we experienced during the May Primary, shifting to a large absentee election presents its own challenges,” the letter reads. “We do not have the ongoing infrastructure to simultaneously run an absentee election of that scale, along with an in-person election.”

“The county clerks in Idaho are united over the need for a special session to address elections legislation,” Westbrook said. “This call to action gives voters an inside view of why new legislation is needed and what to expect for the historic November 2020 election.”

With a huge number of absentee ballots expected, Lewis-Eberhard explains that the ability to open up the ballots received prior to election day and scan them into the counting machines early will ensure everything is counted as quickly and accurately as possible.

“We will be pushing for our citizens in Shoshone County to utilize absentee voting and to request absentee ballots for the November election,” she added.

While Shoshone County will most likely not be implementing the proposed Voting Centers due to the size of the county and the need for people to drive a long way to cast their ballot in person, residents may still have an option to vote in person if they wish.

“We do plan to open as many precincts as possible for in-person voting,” Lewis-Eberhard said. “These locations will be equipped with new electronic equipment to improve the registration process and screens to separate poll workers from voters.”

At the voting precincts that do open on election day, social distancing will be enforced for voters and both poll workers and voters will be required to wear masks to protect each other.

The Shoshone County Elections Office is currently determining what polling locations will allow them to utilize their buildings and how many existing poll workers can commit to working the polls in November. “Our goals are to ensure our voters can vote in the November election, take the necessary steps to make it safe and secure for everyone, and ensure that our voters have trust in the outcome,” Lewis-Eberhard said. “I’m confident we will meet the needs in November.”

Election Day is Nov. 3.