POLL POSITION

Take a bow, Kootenai County voters.

You're No. 2 in 2020.

According to the Secretary of State's office, Kootenai County had the second-highest voter turnout in the general election based on percentage of votes cast among registered voters in Idaho.

Fremont County won the voter turnout crown, with 88.1 percent of its voters casting ballots. But Fremont County had only 7,674 registered voters. In Kootenai County, 87.4 percent of 103,552 registered voters cast ballots.

"Our election was high emotion on both sides, and I think the reason we had such a high turnout was the Kootenai County Republican Party was very engaged, and so was the Kootenai County Democratic Party," County Clerk Jim Brannon said Wednesday. "I saw more activity and more candidates, and I think that was the biggest factor."

According to the Secretary of State's final canvass of the election, tiny Butte County reported 86.3 percent turnout from its 1,653 eligible voters, and Idaho County saw 85.1 percent of a possible 11,412 voters cast ballots.

Statewide, 81.2 percent of Idaho's 1,082,417 registered voters participated in the election. Of those, 56.2 percent (493,719) were submitted through the absentee or early voting options.

Presidential elections consistently see more voter participation, Brannon said, but this year absentee ballots' growing popularity played a significant factor in Kootenai County turnout. In the last presidential election, Brannon remembers receiving only 12,000 absentee ballots. This year, over 47,000 people submitted their votes through mail-order.

"Our first mail-out in this election was 37,000 ballots, so in other words, 37,000 people already asked for a ballot before things got rolling," Brannon said.

Brannon believes the use of absentee ballots and Kootenai County's influence on Idaho state elections will continue to grow as North Idaho's population nears that of Canyon and Ada counties.

"It's not the first time we've had a very important role in an election. Our county is growing in leaps and bounds as we are one of the fastest-growing municipalities in not just Idaho but the whole country," Brannon said. "We have people who really care about our county and their government, and they are passionate about participating."

Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, members of Idaho's State Board of Canvassers, Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf, and Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth certified the official state count of the 2020 General Election ballots for legality this week.

"State and county election officials and workers are to be commended for their dedication, patience, and flexibility in staging a successful General Election under the challenging circumstances of a global pandemic," said Denney in the press release.