Kootenai County absentee ballot requests high
In this 2023 photo, Kootenai County Clerk Jennifer Locke checks the ballot boxes that were prepared for the November election. The boxes are stored in a locked room which no one can enter alone.
KAYE THORNBRUGH/Press file
COEUR d’ALENE — Thousands of Kootenai County voters have requested absentee ballots ahead of the Nov. 5 general election, and there’s still time to request one.
A total of 15,219 voters had requested absentee ballots as of Monday morning, according to the county clerk’s office. More than 14,000 ballots were part of the first batch mailed out last Friday.
“Typically, the first batch is the biggest,” Kootenai County Clerk Jennifer Locke said Monday.
With a month left until the Oct. 25 deadline to request an absentee ballot, ballot requests are already close to eclipsing the number that Kootenai County voters filled out and returned in November 2022. In that general election, the final count was 16,414.
Locke said several factors are contributing to the high number of ballot requests. For one thing, she said, general elections drive higher turnout than other elections, especially in a year with a presidential race.
Some of the ballots are going to voters who requested absentee ballots before the May primary election and ticked the box to receive another ballot for November. A total of 7,101 voters returned absentee ballots for the May primary.
“Many times, when people sign up for absentee, they sign up for the whole year,” Locke said.
She also pointed to statewide efforts to raise awareness about voting options, including mailers from the Democratic Party and the voter’s pamphlet recently published by the Idaho Secretary of State.
When voters fill out absentee ballots and return them, Locke said, it’s important that they sign the forms the same way they signed their voter registration card or driver’s license. This will make it easier for election staff to confirm that the signature is authentic.
“That’s the signature we’re capturing to verify,” she said.
Also, voters who requested absentee ballots for the year ahead of the May primary elections and have since moved must update their voter registration to reflect their correct address.
“If they moved, they have to reregister before they can get an absentee ballot,” Locke said.
Election staff will investigate absentee ballots that are returned as undeliverable in order to determine whether the voter still resides at the listed address.
For more information about the Nov. 5 election, including sample ballots for local races and links to register to vote or to request an absentee ballot, visit www.kcgov.us/31/elections.