BOISE, Idaho — Idaho has endured multiple threats aimed at election offices and workers, but the Secretary of State says it won't deter Idaho from doing everything possible to be transparent and make sure every legal voter has a chance to vote in November.
- The general election is Tuesday, November 5.
- The Secretary of State says Idaho was one of several states that recently received a letter with white powder as a threat.
- He adds that the Statehouse was shut down several times over the summer over election threats.
- Absentee voting is already underway and early voting at the polls starts two weeks before the general election.
(Below is the transcript of the broadcast story)
The general election on Nov. 5th may be the most intense and consequential in the modern age — and turnout is expected to be huge.
I’m senior reporter Roland Beres and I wanted to know, with all the contentious races and issues, how election officials are preparing.
And what I found is that just because Idaho is primarily Republican doesn’t make the job of putting on an election any easier or safer, but election officials are determined to make sure everyone is confident in the process.
Election season is heating up and voting is already underway.
“It’s like a controlled crazy. We know what we’re doing but we’re in the heat of it,” said Trent Tripple, clerk for Ada County, the largest in the state.
“We’re looking at 80 to 90 percent turnout for this election — we normally have 20 to 35 percent turnout,” said Tripple.
Secretary of State Phil McGrane says his office has gone to great lengths to get every legal voter involved.
“We really have worked hard to make it easy to vote. You can register online at Idahovotes.gov, and if you don’t make deadline you can register at the polls on Election Day. We’re fortunate to have those benefits,” said McGrane.
Much of what the biggest county and the state election officials are doing is the same as ever, but they’ve gone even further.
Ada County has a new online ballot verifier that Tripple says is the "envy of the nation."
“We’ve turned a black box into a glass box with people being able to audit our elections on their own if they like, with a ballot verifier,” said Tripple.
Tripple says at least a half dozen states have been calling Idaho to learn more about their system and he expects most states to have a similar system in the coming years.
Both men say transparency is more vital than ever, in part because of increased political violence this year.
“The capitol building has been evacuated multiple times this summer because of threats related to the elections,” said McGrane.
“Now it just seems to be a little more acceptable to be more caustic and in someone’s face when they don’t agree with you and that just doesn’t have a place here in Idaho,” said Tripple.
Tripple says despite heightened security concerns they have plenty of volunteers, some of whom just want to keep an eye on the process. And he says that’s welcomed.
“If you don’t have confidence in the process, come do it with us and if you have suggestions, we’ll take them,” said Tripple.
Early voting starts two weeks before the election and you can see your sample ballot in advance at Idahovotes.gov.
