Latah County voter turnout for last week’s presidential election was the highest since at least 1996 and the number of absentee ballots cast was the highest ever.
Of the 27,476 Latah County registered voters, 20,930 (76.2 percent) voted, according to Latah County Elections Director Jennifer Henrichs.
Henrichs said 13,440 voters cast absentee ballots, meaning they either voted by mail or voted early at the Latah County Courthouse. That was a huge increase from the 5,204 absentee ballots cast in 2016.
“It reduced the number of people who needed to go to the polls on Election Day, which I think helped quite a bit,” Henrichs said of the high number of absentee ballots cast.
The 76.2 percent voter turnout, or the percent of registered voters who voted, was higher than at least the previous six presidential elections, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s website.
Those Latah County turnouts included 72.1 percent in 2016, 69.7 percent in 2012, 69 percent in 2008, 71.7 percent in 2004, 65.3 percent in 2000 and 75.2 percent in 1996.
“The combination between presidential year and the increased options for absentee voting, I think, both contributed to a great turnout,” Latah County Commissioner Tom Lamar said. “Plus, local enthusiasm for the different races.”
Lamar defeated Gabriel Rench, R-Moscow, to retain his seat.
Idaho also experienced a record turnout. According to the Idaho Secretary of State’s website, at least 867,250 Idahoans voted out of 1,020,820 registered voters in the state — an 85 percent turnout. The website said official Election Day voter registrations are still being tallied by all 44 Idaho counties and that once official Election Day voter registrations are tallied, the voter turnout is expected to be about 82 percent.
County elections departments throughout the state were allowed to open and scan returned absentee ballots as many as seven days prior to Election Day thanks to a measure passed during the Idaho Legislature special session in August.
Henrichs said Latah County took advantage of the new measure and started opening ballots the Wednesday prior to Election Day.
“The clerk’s office did a terrific job running the election,” Lamar said.
Latah County reported the final election results around 12:30 a.m. after Election Day.
Lamar said not only did the county need to count thousands more absentee ballots than usual but Clerk/Auditor/Recorder Henrianne Westberg had lots of new poll workers trained.
“She maintained her composure very well given all the extra pressure,” said Lamar, noting COVID-19 difficulties and the huge voter turnout.
Voting at the polls went smoothly as Henrichs said only about 10 people at the Latah County Fairgrounds polling location either refused to wear a mask or could not wear one because of a medical condition. She said poll workers assisted those voters by allowing them to vote curbside.
Lamar said he believes Idaho is moving toward an all-mail ballot format and that it might make sense to proceed down that path.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.
