Lots of absentee voters in Kootenai County

COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County has the third-highest rate of absentee ballots issued in the state of Idaho, according to data from the Idaho Secretary of State.

A total of 11,174 voters requested and received absentee ballots for the Nov. 7 election, according to the Kootenai County Elections Office.

That figure represents 10.6% of the county’s total eligible voters, who number close to 105,600.

Bear Lake County had the highest percentage in the state, according to data from the Idaho Secretary of State’s ballot tracking dashboard, with 16.2% of the county’s 3,500 eligible voters requesting absentee ballots.

Gooding County was next, with 106 absentee ballots issued in a county with 930 eligible voters.

Republican voters make up 56% of those who requested absentee ballots in Kootenai County, with 6,250 doing so. Unaffiliated voters are the second biggest group, at 25% of the total, while 18% are Democrats.

Libertarian voters made up just 1% of the total, with 89 requesting absentee ballots in Kootenai County. Just 18 Constitution Party voters requested absentee ballots for the upcoming election.

Kootenai County Clerk Jennifer Locke confirmed Friday that more than half the Kootenai County voters who received absentee ballots had returned them as of Friday — 6,654 in total.

In Kootenai County, 2,458 people voted early, according to the elections office.

Absentee ballots can be returned to the Kootenai County Elections Office until 8 p.m. Nov. 7.