Big turnout for recall election

SANDPOINT - Voter turnout during Tuesday's Laclede Water District recall election was 48 percent, according to the Bonner County Clerk's Office.

The district had 261 registered voters and 124 of them cast ballots in the special election.

Those who participated in the election voted overwhelmingly to remove Harvey Hallenbeck from office. Votes to recall Hallenbeck totaled 114, while only 10 voted to retain him, according to the unofficial tally.

The result of the election remains unofficial until the vote is canvassed on Sept. 3.

Hallenbeck could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. His listed phone number is disconnected.

There is a chance that the recall could be nullified after the fact, according to Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bauer.

Counsel for Hallenbeck filed a civil action to halt the election earlier this month, contending that recall backers failed to gather the requisite number of signatures to trigger the proceeding.

Judge John T. Mitchell declined to order the election's cancellation, but the case remains pending in 1st District Court.

Some contend Tuesday's election was the first successful recall in the state's history, although the National Conference of State Legislatures indicates that former state Sen. Fisher Ellsworth and former state Rep. Aden Hyde were recalled in 1971.

However, Tuesday's recall may be the first successful one in modern Bonner County history.

Former Sandpoint Mayor Ron Chaney survived a recall attempt in the 1980s.

Jim Feuling, a former Bonner County School District trustee, faced a recall in 1993, but resigned in the run-up to the election.

The Idaho Secretary of State's office said Wednesday that it did not keep historical records of elections in Bonner County.

Former Bonner County Clerk Marie Scott said she could not remember any successful recalls while she was in office from 1991 to 2013.

"This is the first one that I'm aware of," Scott said Wednesday.

There are more than two-dozen taxing districts in Bonner County and the county has only been tasked with administering those entities' elections since 2011.