Early voting ends as county gears up for election of a lifetime

The last day of early voting in Kootenai County saw healthy lines of citizens waiting at the Kootenai County Elections Office in Coeur d’Alene on Friday, as many took their last opportunity to get their vote in ahead of time before an unprecedented Election Day on Nov. 3.

“As of right now,” Kootenai County Clerk Jim Brannon said at 2:30 p.m. Friday, “we’ve had 8,910 early voters come through the doors.”

In addition, 36,216 absentee ballots have been received and processed — with more on the way. And with 54 polling locations set to open among the 70 precincts Tuesday morning, the math all but guarantees the heaviest voter turnout in Kootenai County history.

“We’re as ready as we’re going to be,” Brannon said.

That preparation has come at a cost. The Third Street Elections Office in Coeur d’Alene has had to close three times since the beginning of the pandemic, including as recently as last week, slowing the processing progress and limiting the election managers’ capabilities. But with full operations resuming, and with Election Day two days away, Brannon said the Elections team was prepared for anything, up to and including COVID-19.

Brannon and his team would typically be tasked with ensuring the safety and security of every citizen who steps through the school gymnasium double-doors or church foyer or whatever polling station we consider our own. But he admits, in order to hold a free and fair in-person election during a global pandemic against a virus that doesn’t care one way or the other about a Democratic Republic, he can only do so much.

“Can I guarantee a safe polling place?” he asked rhetorically. “I’m not a doctor. I’m not a scientist. But I can tell you about the precautions we’re taking.”

Those precautions, he said, include diligent adherence to strict health protocols, protocols we’ve heard from health care experts a thousand times since the pandemic began but that carry far more weight for those who venture out only for the most important of reasons. Like voting.

“At the polls,” Brannon said, “we’re social distancing, we have masks available, we have electronic poll books; we’ll be sanitizing the screens and the styluses often. We’re truly doing the best that we can.”

Sometimes those precautions, Brannon admitted, include alternative game plans, should the unexpected arise.

“If there would be some complications, due to the virus,” he said, “we may be required to either close down a polling place and re-assign it, or just close it altogether. If we have workers that can’t work, or if there’s an area that’s been affected, we’ll evaluate that as we need to.”

Jennifer Locke, chief deputy clerk, said this has been the longest and strangest election year in memory, and that even though the Elections Office team has been viewing this as a marathon, rather than a sprint, it’s hard not to admire everyone’s efforts as they reach the finish line together.

“We have an amazing staff,” Locke said. “We’re taking this year hour by hour. It’s been a long and hard process, and we appreciate everyone’s support.”

That feeling of a long, drawn-out campaign season has weighed on candidates, as well.

Sen. Mary Souza, in her bid for a third term in the Idaho Senate, said that of her five campaigns throughout her political career, this year’s was easily the strangest — and most concerning.

“There appears to be so much concern,” Souza said, “and I think it’s more on a national level than it is local, but there’s been so much anxiety this year. I think we’ll all be glad when this election’s over. Personally, I’m not nervous, because I’m OK either way, whether I win or lose. But I hope that after it’s over, I hope we can settle down and get along with each other. This business of one side against another: It’s not working, and it’s hurting our community.”

Souza said her typical campaign rituals were upended along with everyone else’s routines because of a pandemic that has left us all feeling powerless.

“This year is totally different because of COVID,” she said. “In all the other (campaigns), I’d be going door-to-door all the time these last few days. But you can’t do that, because people are uncomfortable with someone coming to their door.”

Her challenger, Democrat Shari Williams, said she and her team will be making the most of the last days leading up to Election Day, even if that means from the other side of a telephone.

“We’re going to be phone-banking,” Williams said. “We’re going to make sure everybody’s voting, where their polling place is, things like that. Because of COVID, we can’t offer to give people a ride to polling places, but we will offer to drop off people’s absentee ballots, for those who can’t get out to do it themselves.”

Williams said she’s enjoyed her first campaign experience, and that she’s learned the value of community support.

“I’ve learned through this,” she said, “that there are a lot more people that support you that don’t even know you, just because of what you believe in. There are a lot more people who supported me that I didn’t know from Adam. People are generous, people want change, and people are willing to help in any way they can. So many people have been willing to help me and show their support, and I’m never going to forget that.”