No election results or outcomes changed during election canvass or audits
The Idaho State Board of Canvassers voted Tuesday afternoon to officially certify the results of the state’s May 19 primary election during a meeting at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.
During the canvass, members of the board confirmed all of the state’s primary election outcomes and did not change the results of any races.
Before it certified the election results, the board reviewed the results of the eight randomly-selected county election audits that took place across the state last week, as well as the results of local elections canvasses from all 44 Idaho counties.
The purpose of the audits was to confirm that the numbers reported by the counties matched a hand tally from the election audits, as well as to validate election procedures used around the state – from handling and storing ballots to counting and reporting results, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said.
“I feel really good about this election from our office and all 44 counties and all the work that went into it,” McGrane said.
The Idaho State Board of Canvassers is made up of McGrane, State Controller Brandon Woolf and State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth.
Idaho’s final, official primary election results show that voter turnout was 30.1%, slightly up from 28% turnout for the 2024 primary election.
Official election results also show that 11,087 Idahoans registered to vote and voted on the day of the election.
The certification of primary election results officially begins the period where candidates can request an election recount. However, McGrane said none of the outcomes of any statewide races or state legislative races falls within the 0.1% threshold to qualify for a free recount. McGrane did say there were two local races across the state that produced an exact tie that was settled by a coin flip – a county commission race in Caribou County and a party precinct position in Jerome County.
What were the results of the primary election audits in Idaho?
While the Idaho State Board of Canvassers certified all of the state’s election results without altering any outcomes, McGrane and elections officials said they noticed a small number of procedural discrepancies in some counties during the election audits.
For example, one vote was subtracted from Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, in his successful District 28 Idaho Senate primary election after it was determined that a folded crease on an absentee ballot – not a voter filling in their ballot with a pen – left a dark mark on the oval next to Guthrie’s name. However, even with the one-vote change, Guthrie still defeated GOP challenger David Worley by 480 votes.
In another case, there were four new voters’ addresses who did not show up in the election poll book in Owyhee County when those people registered to vote on the day of the primary election. State officials said that was likely due to rapid new construction growth and county officials not entering those new residences in the system prior to the day of the election. However, McGrane and officials with the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office said Owyhee County elections officials verified those voters’ identities and addresses as required by state law prior to issuing ballots, and then poll workers made reports and accounted for each of the four addresses that was not in their system prior to the election.
Additionally in Owyhee County, McGrane said county election officials made some errors hand-entering results on VoteIdaho.gov on the night of the primary election, but those errors were caught during the local county canvass and updated before the audit.
McGrane said the issue affected the results that were entered by hand at VoteIdaho.gov, and the discrepancy shows why the state uses the canvass and auditing systems to verify and certify election results.
McGrane also said the state audit successfully verified the results that Owyhee County commissioners reported in their county canvass with all the numbers matching in the end.
“It’s a good example of the system working the way it’s intended,” McGrane said.
The Secretary of State’s Office is recommending that county election officials review address information prior to elections going forward.
This article was written by Clark Corbin of the Idaho Capital Sun.