A bill restricting Idaho’s long standing practice of no-excuse absentee voting is moving forward, though it could see some changes.
Rep. Mike Kingsley (R-Lewiston) has presented his bill as aiming to halt political parties from mailing pre-filled absentee ballot requests to registered voters.
But it would also only allow someone to request an absentee ballot if they’re going to be out of town on Election Day, or if they have an illness or disability preventing them from going to the polls.
“Absentee balloting was meant to be something that was rare, that it wasn’t something to be depended upon,” Kingsley said.
Rep. Todd Achilles (D-Boise) said the option should remain for people work on-call schedules or do shift work.
“Yes, people can show up to vote,” said Achilles. “It’s also not a holiday and there are a lot of people who don’t have control of their schedules to be able to meet the voting hours.”
Secretary of State Phil McGrane and the group representing Idaho’s county clerks both oppose the measure as well.
McGrane said the vast majority of Idahoans vote in-person on Election Day, with 25% of people using absentee ballots or voting early.
“I think there’s often a misconception that we have to restrict access to increase security,” McGrane said.
County clerks, he said, already verify signatures to ensure absentee ballots aren’t being abused. Those that don’t match are thrown out and attempts are made to contact the voter.
Opponents asked Kingsley how a voter would be penalized if they weren’t ill or weren’t out of town while voting absentee. He said they wouldn’t, which is why it wouldn’t be enforceable.
Still, he wanted the House State Affairs Committee to advance the bill to the floor without changes.
“I really think this is a good bill to reel in mail-in balloting,” Kingsley said.
The committee ultimately sent the legislation to the floor for possible amendments, which could cut the proposed mandatory excuses from the bill.
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