Giddings’ bill banning ballot drop boxes moves to House

BOISE — A proposal to prohibit the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots advanced to the House floor Wednesday, despite a lack of evidence that there’s a problem.

House Bill 693 is sponsored by Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird. She said the legislation is based on “the potential for fraud or for unforeseen circumstances” that might lead to ballot tampering.

“My goal with this is to rebuild trust in the election process,” she said.

No one who testified on the bill, however, expressed any concerns about election integrity. In fact, several who served as poll workers said they were impressed with the procedures that are in place to ensure Idaho has fair and safe elections.

“I was amazed at the security and protections of the process,” said Amaia Clayton, a junior at Renaissance High School in Meridian who served as an Ada County poll worker.

Absentee ballots are inserted into security envelopes, which are then sealed inside mailing envelops. The ballots can then either be mailed back to the elections office or dropped off at a secure drop box location.

“If we’re really concerned about the security of drop boxes, we might as well get rid of all public mail boxes,” Clayton said.

Like Clayton, Shiva Rajbhandari, a junior at Boise High, questioned the need for the bill.

“What the heck is this legislation?” he asked. “Have you all ever worked 9 to 5? Do you understand what a majority of Idahoans go through? Absentee voting is essential for parents with young children, single-wage earners and students. Ballot drop-off is an integral part of that. ... A vote for this (bill) would indicate you all don’t want someone to vote.”

Election integrity became a high-profile issue in 2020, when Donald Trump supporters made unproved claims of massive voter fraud.

The Idaho Legislature is considering a number of election-related bills this session. Several have been introduced by Republican lawmakers who are running for higher office. Giddings is running for lieutenant governor.

“I feel like this kind of legislation is feeding a fear, giving people less confidence in our counties and our state,” said Josie Christensen, another former poll worker. “We don’t want to do that. What we have works and we shouldn’t change it. It isn’t broken.”

Owyhee County Clerk Angela Barkell noted that there’s one ballot drop-off location in her county. It’s at the Homedale City Hall and is only available during business hours. At night, it’s locked up inside the building; the box itself is also padlocked.

“We’re the second-largest county in the state,” Barkell said. “We provide a drop box for citizens who live more than an hour’s drive away (from the county elections office). It’s in a secure location. As others have already stated, if it’s not broke, why are we trying to fix it? As far as I know, there have been no issues with ballot box stuffing. I guess that’s the issue we’re worried about.”

Despite unanimous testimony in opposition to the bill, the committee voted 10-3 to send it to the House floor with a favorable recommendation.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.