CALDWELL, Idaho — Elections in Canyon County are going to look a little different now thanks to a new 16,000-square-foot facility. Canyon County unveiled its brand-new Elections Building on Monday; a 16,500-square-foot space dedicated to housing Canyon County elections officials and the new home of early voting. The new voting location is at 5801-B Graye Lane in Caldwell.
"We have a dedicated training room," said County Clerk Rick Hogaboam. "We have hundreds of poll workers every election cycle. And we've had to do training off-site because our past elections building is so small in order to efficiently train large groups."
Funded by federal pandemic stimulus money, the $3.7 million office space for Canyon County elections will quadruple the usable space from the previous office, allowing all elections training to be done in-house, providing accessible space for election vehicles to return ballots for counting, and offering more parking for voters.
"We're standing in an area right now where vehicles will be able to transport through and we can safely bring the equipment straight into a secure area," Hogaboam said. "Our counting area, our tabulation room is much larger, and that will allow us to add some equipment so that we can more efficiently count on election night."
The tabulation room was designed with election integrity at the forefront. Hogaboam suggested changes to the exterior of the building to increase transparency even further.
"Every feature from the secure storage of ballots to the training room, to an improved observation area where I requested the late addition of those windows right behind you so that the public can observe the county and the ballots on election night," Hogaboam said. "Every detail throughout this building has been meticulously planned to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and security of our electoral process."
County officials tell Idaho News 6 the previous elections office will stay within the county and that a department from the Canyon County Sheriff's Office will be moving in.
