When will we have results in Idaho? Will there be lines? Your election questions, answered
Potentially hundreds of thousands of Idaho voters will cast their ballots Tuesday, joining the tens of thousands who already have voted early or by mail to determine who will lead the country, state and county.
That’s much like any Election Day — although with coronavirus still an urgent concern, that may be where the similarities to other years end.
From face masks and lines to potentially delayed national results, here’s what you can expect to see on Election Day and in the hours after the polls close.
Will there be lines?
Almost certainly.
Lines aren’t atypical, especially in presidential election years. With the expected high voter turnout, combined with restrictions on how many people can be in a space, it won’t be uncommon to spot lines out the door.
Chad Houck, chief deputy secretary of state, told the Statesman that the state has gotten faster at processing voters, particularly with the introduction of new technology such as electronic poll books in higher-population areas such as Ada County. At the same time, he said he anticipates there will be more voters than ever before.
“There are so many factors that determine how long a line will be,” he said. “It depends on time of day, how many people in a particular area took advantage of early voting and so on.”
In much of the state, forecasts show it will be sunny and pleasant, but you may want to bring an umbrella or a jacket just in case.
Houck said traditionally, lines are longest right after the polls open at 8 a.m. as people try to vote before work, and between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. as people vote after work. To avoid the longest lines, try to time your vote somewhere in between.
Will people be wearing masks? Will polling stations be clean?
In Ada County, you’ll see poll workers wear masks and possibly face shields. The county is providing them to all elections workers.
There will also be what Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane called a “sanitizing clerk” at polling places. That person is dedicated on keeping surfaces clean and wiping things down every 15 minutes in accordance with Central District Health recommendations.
Voters are not required to wear masks but are strongly encouraged to do so.
“We don’t want to end up disenfranchising somebody just because of the concerns over the mask for whatever reason,” McGrane said.
Houck said a voters will be given access to ballots whether or not they wear masks, although that does not necessarily mean they’ll be allowed into a polling place.
“If a particular county were to say ‘you’re not coming in the polling location without one, but we’ll curbside you and provide a ballot that way,’ that would be reasonable, because they still have access to the ballot,” he said. “The Constitution guarantees your right to vote, but it doesn’t guarantee the manner in which that right will be expressed.”
In Ada County, voters will be provided with their own writing utensils — golf pencils that on one side say “Ada County Elections 2020” and on another say “I voted.” Voters may bring their own pens if they’d prefer.
Voters who have tested positive for COVID-19 will be allowed to vote at a separate, outdoor polling place. Ada County is working with Central District Health’s contract tracers to provide COVID-positive voters with information on where they should go.
What do I need to vote?
You can register to vote in person at your polling place. Bring a photo ID (a state ID, tribal card, passport or student ID), a state ID number or the last four digits of your Social Security number, and proof of residency — this could be a bill or credit card statement that shows you live at your current address.
If you’re already registered, bring an ID — the ones listed above will work. If you forget it, you’ll still be able to sign a personal identification affidavit that says you are who you say.
If you need help voting, you have the right to ask for help from poll workers, who can read you your ballot and help you mark it. You can also bring someone with you to help you vote. You can also request to vote curbside if you have a disability that makes it difficult to stand in line or enter your polling place. A poll worker will bring your ballot to you outside the polling place or to your car.
Make sure you check your polling place before you go, as COVID-19 means some have moved or condensed. In Ada County, enter your address on the Ada County website. Canyon County has a similar site.
You also have the option to change your mind on how you plan to vote. If you requested an absentee ballot but instead want to vote in person, you can take your absentee ballot to your polling place. They’ll cancel that ballot and give you a new one to vote in person.
If you still want to vote absentee, the deadline to get that ballot into a drop box is 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 3 — Election Day.
Will there be poll watchers?
Yes, but not many. Ada County has a list of 27 approved poll watchers, submitted by the major parties and candidates.
Idaho law allows for one person from each party to watch. A watcher must submit a written request to the county clerk in advance. Watchers must also wear visible name tags with their titles and cannot “interfere with the orderly conduct of the election.” Attempting to influence voters, including through threats or favors, is illegal.
President Donald Trump urged his supporters during a debate in September to “carefully watch” voting locations, leading to concerns that people may try to show up as poll watchers. But Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee told reporters last week that he expected no trouble on Election Day.
“If poll workers encounter ‘unapproved’ poll watchers, they would ask the individual(s) to leave if they are not there for voting,” Ada County elections spokesperson Chelsea Carattini told the Statesman in an email. “We work closely with the precinct’s chief judge to handle any issue that should arise at a polling place.”
How many people are expected to vote?
Ada County predicts as many as 90% of registered voters will turn out in the election based on trends from past elections and what officials know from early voting and absentee voting, according to the county’s elections media guide.
Ada County has just shy of 300,000 registered voters as of Oct. 24, meaning upward of 270,000 people may cast a ballot in the county.
Statewide, there are more than one million registered voters. Houck said as many as 400,000 had already voted as of Friday, which could be as many as half of all voters this year.
When do they start counting ballots? When will results come in?
Nationally, it’s hard to say — each state runs its own elections, and each state is responsible for reporting its results. It is very likely that, unlike typical elections, we won’t be able to predict who the president is on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
On a local level, we’ll probably have results a lot sooner. McGrane said he expected to see local results at some point Wednesday morning.
“Just like in past presidential elections, on Wednesday when people wake up, they should be able to see final results for all the races,” he said.
In part, McGrane attributes that to a move from the Idaho Legislature during its special session earlier this year to allow counties to open absentee ballots a week in advance and begin the scanning process. That’s important — more than 141,000 absentee ballots had been issued as of Oct. 27, according to data from the Ada County elections office, and nearly 120,000 of those had been returned as of Oct. 31.
Results for those absentee ballots won’t be counted until polls close statewide on Election Day. Even when ballots are counted, they must still be certified. County clerks must certify election results by Nov. 13, a time frame that allows for the potential need for extra time to count.
Idaho may know before many states. While votes returned after 8 p.m. on Election Day don’t count in Idaho — make sure you get those absentee ballots into a drop box by that deadline! — about 20 other states will accept ballots that are postmarked by Nov. 3 as long as they arrive within a few days. That means states such as Pennsylvania and North Carolina may need to wait longer for their results.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 1:15 PM.
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