Ada County voters eager to cast their ballot this election season can do so at a handful of early voting locations throughout the county, including a mobile voting unit.
The traveling voting booth is set up in high traffic areas and prints ballots on-demand. Residents can both register and vote there, the same way they would on election day.
“Typically it'll be in areas where we don't have static early voting sites,” said Ada County Early Voting Coordinator Tyler Allen. “We try to use this as a way of getting out to voters who are not close to a normal early voting site and really try to provide service for them.”
On Thursday, the mobile unit was set up at the Boise State University campus, where a steady stream of people lined up to vote.
“We are seeing quite the turnout for this election,” Allen said, adding people appear motivated because it’s a presidential election. “There's a lot of excitement going on, a lot of new people registering.”
Standing in line, 18-year-old political science student London Rekemeyer said she’d been wanting to vote since she was little.
“I've gone to every time my parents went and voted,” she said. “I'd follow them, and it's been something I've been really excited to do since I turned 18.”
Rekemeyer said the first thing she did after leaving the voting booth was send a picture of her “I Voted” sticker to her mom.
“I walked out of there with a smile on my face and I'm still really excited,” she said. “I feel very complete and happy right now.”
College of Engineering staff Morgan Zabriskie voted early because she felt a sense of urgency to cast her ballot.
“Maybe more so than in past elections,” she said, adding she voted on campus because it was convenient, not because she worried about issues in her precinct on election day.
“It's a burden off of my mind that I voted and my part in it is done,” Zabriskie said.
Record turnout is predicted this election cycle. More than 83,000 Idahoans already voted early as of Thursday, with more than 33,000 ballots coming from Ada County.
The unit will be at the Orchard Park Library in Meridian Friday from 8 to 5 and again Monday, before heading off to Garden City and Star next week.
