This article was originally written by Cynthia Sewell with the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho’s statewide primary is May 19. But if you are planning to go to your neighborhood polling place on Tuesday to vote, stop right now.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the state is conducting its primary entirely by mail.
Anyone who wants to vote in the primary must request a ballot. Ballots are not automatically sent to voters. Fortunately, there is still time to get a ballot, but just barely.
The deadline to request a ballot is 8 p.m. May 19.
Anyone who has not requested a ballot, or who is not registered vote, can do so at idahovotes.gov or by contacting their respective county clerk’s office.
The deadline to return the completed ballot is 8 p.m. June 2. The election results will be counted that night.
In Ada County, the unprecedented requests for ballots has been historic, according to the elections office there.
“In Ada County, 116,475 ballots have been issued as of May 18,” according to a press release from the election’s office. “For comparison, in a similar primary election in 2016, just over 35,000 total ballots were cast. Each ballot request is processed individually and the large volume has resulted in delays in mailing ballots to voters.”
IDAHO’S MA9 PRIMARY ELECTION VOTER GUIDESUp for election this yearare three of Idaho’s four federal congressional seats and all 105 seats in the Idaho Legislature. Additionally, in each of Idaho’s 44 counties, four offices are up for election this year: county commissioner districts one and two, prosecutor and sheriff.
The May primary is for each party to nominate their respective candidates for the Nov. 3 general election.
To help voters learn more about the candidates running for these offices, the Idaho Statesman sent surveys to each of the candidates in contested primary races
Here’s what they had to say:
- Federal candidates
- Southwest Idaho legislative candidates
- Ada County candidates
- Canyon County candidates
In addition, Idaho Statesman’s editorial board has interviewed candidates and weighed in on the primary with its selections for some of the races.
