Mail-only primary should save Latah County money

Idaho’s decision to hold the May primary election by mail because of the coronavirus is the right decision and will save the county money, Latah County Clerk/Auditor/Recorder Henrianne Westberg said.

Gov. Brad Little and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney made the announcement Monday.

“The move is necessary after it became clear that sufficient polling places and poll workers could not be obtained for the election,” a news release from Little’s office said.

Even if the state had not made the decision, Westberg said she was going to strongly encourage Latah County residents to vote absentee.

“I think they made the right decision, but I think I would have been prepared with whatever decision they make,” she said.

Susan Ripley, president of the League of Women Voters of Idaho and a Moscow resident, said voting by mail will protect voters and poll workers, who are generally older adults and, therefore, at higher risk for severe illness and death from COVID-19.

Though she agreed the right decision was made, Ripley noted changing the voting format seven weeks prior to the election is problematic because of the short notice.

She said the Secretary of State’s office should send out a ballot request form to every registered voter in the state.

“I think they did the right thing, but now they need to make sure they get ballots in the hands of as many people as they can in the short period of time that we have,” Ripley said.

Ripley said she hopes the mail-only voting format sparks a discussion to permanently change Idaho voting to mail only.

Westberg said it will be interesting to see how much money the county will save. Expenses related to polling locations will be eliminated but more money will be dedicated to paper and postage for mailing out ballots.

Westberg said the savings will depend on how many people vote. She said Latah County election turnouts have recently been strong.

“The only thing I could see that might keep them from being motivated is lack of races …. Voters need to be motivated and I don’t know with Latah County’s ballot just how motivated we’ll be because, to me, I don’t see any big contention between candidates,” Westberg said.

The state primary will include a U.S. Senate seat and both U.S. House seats. More locally, it will include all three District 5 Senate and House seats and Latah County seats.

For a complete list of candidates, visit these shoterned web links: https://bit.ly/2JsModP and https://bit.ly/3az2nCR.

Idaho had its presidential primary on March 10, with President Donald Trump winning among Republicans and former Vice President Joe Biden for Democrats.

Westberg said one person in her office typically handles absentee ballots during elections, but because all votes will be absentee this time around, others will be redirected to help handle the huge influx of absentee ballots.

“I think we are fine as far as our level of ability to handle this,” Westberg said. “So we’re just going to have to move some employees’ work priority from one area to another.”

Voting absentee requires three steps: requesting an absentee ballot, waiting to receive the ballot by mail and then voting and returning the ballot.

Registered voters can request a ballot at bit.ly/3awMBbW. Residents can register to vote at idahovotes.gov/.

Westberg emphasized that residents should request a ballot now to avoid the large number of people who wait until the last minute to ask for one.

“The sooner you can request that ballot, the better,” she said.

The absentee ballot application deadline is May 8 and the absentee ballot return deadline is May 19. However, according to Little’s news release Monday, Little and Denney will work with Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and the clerks of Idaho’s 44 counties to refine the absentee voting process for these unique circumstances including setting appropriate deadlines for registering to vote, requesting a ballot be sent to homes and returning the ballot.

Westberg said the May 8 and 19 deadlines may need to be extended. She said she is in contact with the Secretary of State’s office multiple times a day.

“We all want to do our best to make sure that everybody who wants to vote can vote and every vote is able to get back to us and be counted,” she said.

Westberg said she realizes not everyone is able to register and request an absentee ballot online.

She said she might make physical forms available at certain locations. Voters can also call (208) 883-2249 to request that an absentee ballot request form be mailed to them.

“I’ll do everything I can to get absentee ballot requests to anyone who wants them,” Westberg said.

Ballots can be mailed to the clerk’s office at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow or dropped off in the dropbox in the courthouse parking lot.

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.