Could be a record breaker

The Kootenai County clerk's office is gearing up for what might be the biggest voter turnout in county history.

In May, Kootenai County had a little over 80,000 registered voters, chief deputy clerk Jennifer Locke said Monday. Now it's over 98,000, with 2,200 voters registering just last week. With this number of voters, Kootenai County is catching up to Canyon, the state's second largest county.

Locke said the office hopes to mail out the first round of ballots on Friday. Not including those who are voting in person, Locke said the county could be looking at around 50,000 absentee ballots being cast.

"It was a high volume send out for first ballots. We just sent over a file of a little over 37,000," Locke said. "So we could be looking at 44,000 to 50,000 on election day."

While many switched to absentee ballots because of COVID-19, county clerk Jim Brannon suspects it will be a lasting trend due to convenience. For the May primary, which was done entirely by absentee ballot because of the coronavirus, the Kootenai County clerk's office mailed out 44,000. By comparison, they sent out only 12,000 for the 2016 primary election.

To help handle the production, the clerk's office hired K&H Integrity Communications to assist in printing and distributing this year's ballots. K&H Integrity Communications is a processing, printing and packaging company that Locke said has been used by Ada and Canyon counties for many election cycles.

"As our area continues to grow, it makes more sense to hire this company than hire additional staff as far as costs go," Brannon said. "Normally, the election staff is only four people and a manager. It just isn't enough now."

The Kootenai County board of commissioners approved the company's use earlier this summer when the clerk's office realized the number of ballots was far more than they had initially anticipated.

"Over the summer Ada County recommended K&H to us because they saw what we went through last year when we had the second-largest return rate in the state," Locke said. "They've been doing great work. I'm impressed."

Brannon and Locke assured that K&H is involved only in printing and mailing out ballots to county residents. The company will play no part in handling filled-out ballots or recording votes.

"They are only doing the mailing for us. We have done all the security processes on our end," Locke said. "It's a very secure thing."

All absentee ballots must be in the clerk's office by 8 p.m. on election day, either through mail or dropped off, Locke said. Polling centers will not be able to accept absentee ballots on Nov. 3.

Cutoff for voter registration is Oct. 9. Election officials are encouraging Kootenai County residents to go online to idahovotes.gov and make sure their ballot is secured.