Kootenai County voting equipment upgraded before high turnout Nov. 3 election

Kootenai County upgraded its voting equipment ahead of the Nov. 3 election. 

The county has transitioned to the Hart Verity Vanguard voting system, the only voting system certified by the Idaho Secretary of State that meets federal Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 standards, according to the Kootenai County Elections Office.

"Investing in new election equipment is about making sure Kootenai County's election system is prepared to serve our voters both today and in 10 years," said Kootenai County Elections Manager Asa Gray. 

Security provisions include 100% offline tabulation, as required by Idaho law, and stringent third-party testing required by federal standards. The system's paper ballot scanners read the "actual human markings" and text on the ballot, in compliance with a March 2025 presidential executive order, instead of storing votes in barcodes. 

The county conducts mandatory logic and accuracy testing on vote-tally equipment using hand-marked ballots before every election. Since 2022, the Idaho Secretary of State's post-election hand-count audits have repeatedly verified the accuracy of voting equipment. 

"Our county has experienced significant growth and our election infrastructure must grow with it," Gray said. "This new equipment gives us additional ballot management capacity while maintaining the security, accuracy and efficiency that voters expect." 

As part of the Hart voting system, the county is transitioning to precinct-based ballot tabulation for Election Day voting. Kootenai County has used precinct paper ballot scanners for early voting since 2023 and is now rolling them out to polling locations countywide. 

For decades, Kootenai County has relied heavily on a central-count model, in which ballots from polling places are transported to the Elections Office for tabulation. 

As the number of voters in Kootenai County has increased, growing from 74,035 registered voters in 2016 to more than 112,000 this year, a 52% surge in a decade, so has the volume of ballots that must be transported, processed and tabulated centrally. 

Gray recalled the 2022 general election, when tabulation took about 36 hours. Elections staff said the delay was due to improperly filled out ballots, which required adjudication and duplication, and three write-in races, which also required special processing. 

The new system rolling out Nov. 3 allows precinct-based ballot scanners to scan Election Day paper ballots, then return the scanners and ballots to the Elections Office for data verification, results upload and ballot retention in accordance with state and federal law. 

In the past, if someone voted for two candidates in a race where they were only meant to vote for one, elections staff members had to review the ballot to determine how the individual intended to vote, then recreate the ballot so it could be run through the tabulators. 

With the new system, if someone votes for two candidates in a race instead of one, the scanner will kick the ballot back. The voter can then fill out a fresh ballot or submit the ballot as-is. In that case, the vote in the affected race would be considered invalid, but the rest of the ballot would be counted normally. 

"It puts it in the voter's hand, rather than us having to sit with a team of three people and try to determine the voter's intent," Gray said. 

Other Idaho counties that have used precinct paper ballot scanners on Election Day include Ada and Canyon counties, the only ones with bigger populations than Kootenai County, and neighboring Shoshone County. 

"The ultimate goal is making us more efficient and hopefully being able to provide results in a more timely fashion," Gray said. 

Elections staff are expecting a high turnout for the general election. Roughly 8,500 people had voted early as of Wednesday afternoon, Gray said, and the Elections Office mailed out more than 20,000 absentee ballots, many of which have already returned. 

"People are very engaged," Gray said. 

He said turnout is likely around 70%, somewhere between 2022's 60% and the 83% turnout in the 2024 general election. 

Gray said two major factors are driving the high turnout: statewide and local ballot questions and the national conversation about the importance of midterm elections. 

"I think many people are engaged because it's a hot topic at the federal level," he said. "Even though Idaho isn't considered a swing state, that doesn't mean people don't want to make their voices heard."