SOS tours Kootenai County elections office

COEUR d’ALENE — It takes thousands of people across Idaho to make democracy work in this state.

That’s what Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane told a room full of poll workers Thursday morning at the Kootenai County elections office. The poll workers had gathered for training ahead of the Nov. 7 election, while McGrane had stopped by as part of his tour of county election facilities in North Idaho.

“It’s not (Kootenai County Clerk Jennifer Locke) or I who are really the ones enforcing our election laws and making sure the system works,” McGrane said. “It’s you guys.”

The purpose of the tour is to share best practices and find out what support North Idaho counties need from the state when it comes to running elections, McGrane said.

“It’s been really eye opening,” McGrane said. “There are some counties that are struggling and need some extra help. There are counties like Kootenai that have it working really smoothly and really well.”

Locke said McGrane’s previous experience as Ada County Clerk makes him knowledgable about and responsive to the needs of clerks throughout Idaho. She said McGrane’s staff has been a resource for Kootenai County.

“The clerks rely on each other for input and best practices and things we can improve,” she said. “He’s been an asset since his days as clerk in Ada County.”

Elections staff showed off new counting machines that will be used by the public for the first time next week, when early voting begins.

Kootenai County voters who cast their ballots early at the elections office will slide their ballots, still inside privacy sleeves, directly into counters that scan the ballots.

The machines, which are not connected to the internet and will only be used for early voting this year, can detect unclear or additional marks on a ballot.

For example, if a voter fills in bubbles for three candidates for a race where there are only meant to choose two, the machine will detect the additional mark and a message will pop up, asking the voter if they would like the ballot returned to them.

“It never shows who the voter voted for, but it lets them know that they over voted that specific contest on the ballot,” said Elections Manager Asa Gray.

If so, the voter brings the ballot to a poll worker, who spoils it and provides a fresh one.

“The voter is correcting their ballot then and there,” Gray said.

Scanned ballots are deposited inside a box within the counting machine, which can hold between 2,000 and 3,000 ballots. Boxes are locked and stored securely once they fill up.

Locke said she expects the counters to save time when it comes to tallying early votes.

After touring the elections office, which has expanded since his last visit several years ago, McGrane said he’s impressed with Kootenai County’s systems and facilities.

“You see the level of detail that is used here to check things and recheck things,” he said. “We really do have a good, secure election system in Idaho and particularly in Kootenai County.”