This article was originally published by Kevin Richert in Idaho Ed News.
A member of Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s education task force is facing a criminal electioneering charge in Kootenai County.
Laura Van Voorhees speaks during the first meeting of Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s education task force in May.
The Coeur d’Alene Press reported Tuesday on the complaint against Laura Van Voorhees, stemming from her conduct as a poll worker in November.
Van Voorhees, of Hayden, is accused of handing a voter a card with information about critical race theory. Idaho code forbids all electioneering within 100 feet of a polling place, including the circulation of “cards or handbills of any kind.”
Critical race theory was a talking point in many of November’s school board elections, including hotly contested races in Kootenai County and other corners of Idaho. It was also a focal point last summer, as McGeachin’s task force sought evidence of leftist indoctrination in K-12 schools and colleges and universities.
During the task force’s first meeting in May, Van Voorhees described a rift with her daughter, blaming it in part on critical race theory curriculum at the California college her daughter attended. “We are in a Marxist takeover, a communist takeover (in) this country. And this is a manifestation of it in our face. It’s in our homes.”
Electioneering carries a maximum fine of $1,000.
The Kootenai County prosecutor’s office filed a criminal complaint against Van Voorhees on Jan. 12, the Press reported. The case is scheduled to go to trial in May.
