BOISE, Idaho — In early May, registered Idaho voters were sent a ballot request form for the upcoming May Primary Election, which will be conducted from home to protect voters, election workers and community members from the coronavirus.
To request a ballot by mail, voters must open the mailer, tear off the postcard, complete it, sign it, and drop it back in their mailbox. All the ballot request postcards include pre-paid postage, so voters do not need to worry about stamps, and are pre-addressed so they are sent directly to voters’ county elections office.
“Over the last week, we’ve seen some voters who have put their ballot request form in an envelope and mailed it to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office,” said Chad Houck, Idaho’s Chief Deputy Secretary. “We are rerouting all of the ballot request forms we’ve received to the appropriate county elections office in order to make sure voters receive their ballots in time for the upcoming election. However, we want to remind voters who haven’t mailed in their ballot request forms yet that all they need to do is to fill out the form and put it in the mail. Voters do not need to put the form in an envelope or add any postage. Those who have already requested their ballot either online or by paper form from their county clerk for this election need not send in a second request.”
The ballot request form mailed to voters is bound together with an adhesive seal. Once voters break the seal and open the mailer, they will see the tear-off pre-paid, pre-addressed postcard.
The Secretary of State’s Office mailed more than 550,000 ballot request forms statewide. Most voters are returning their ballot request forms in the mail to their county elections office with no problems. As of Monday, less than 200 forms had been incorrectly mailed to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Voters can also request their ballot online at IdahoVotes.gov. Voters should be patient once they request their ballot. Requests are being processed as quickly as possible to give voters plenty of time to return their ballot by the 8 p.m. June 2 deadline.
Ballots will be counted and election results will be released on June 2, 2020.
