Eye On Boise

‘It had the desired effect’

April 9, 2009 11:48 a.m. • 21 comments

Earlier, when House Speaker Lawerence Denney introduced a last-minute bill to require voters to show picture I.D. and to end mail-in voter registration in Idaho, he said the bill probably wouldn’t get a hearing this year - and then, yesterday, a hearing was scheduled for this morning in the House State Affairs Committee. Then it was canceled. Denney said he got a visit yesterday from Secretary of State Ben Ysursa. “The secretary came and saw us yesterday, me and the pro tem, and he convinced us that they will work on the issue over the interim and we will all come back and sing ‘kumbaya,’ Denney said. Asked why he scheduled a hearing on the bill after earlier saying he likely wouldn’t, Denney said, “It had the desired effect. We did get the attention of the county clerks and the secretary of state.”

Said Denney, “I think there is a problem there that needs to be addressed, and that’s the problem of being able to register by by mail and then request an absentee ballot, so you can vote without anybody seeing you. That needs to be addressed.”

21 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

slfisher on April 09 at 12:17 p.m.
“We did get the attention of the county clerks and the secretary of state.”

Yes, I can imagine that when you schedule a hearing with less than 24 hours’ notice that essentially eliminates absentee ballots, it does get their attention.
bluegirlredstate on April 09 at 1:48 p.m.
Actually Denney, there isn’t a problem. Unless you’re convinced the GOP reign in Idaho is a result of voter fraud.
darcyism on April 09 at 1:52 p.m.
It’s amazing the lengths of regulation that would be necessary to maintain GOP leadership don’t apply to things like keeping our children safe or protecting the people and jobs.
Sisyphus on April 09 at 2:32 p.m.
What? Ben’s not taking their calls? Wasn’t he also quite ticked off when they initially sponsored the closed primary legislation? I recall he pointed out the fallacy of monkeying with a system that got them all elected. Now they got him sitting up and playing fetch. What’s the backstory to this animosity?

Let’s see, I reckon the disabled and the elderly won’t like this legislation since it will kill absentee balloting and voting by mail. Why do they hate old people? Are they mad cause the disabled get all the good parking spots?

One thing I can’t disagree with, voter fraud must be rampant in Idaho with Denney and Geddes in the legislature.
slfisher on April 09 at 4:02 p.m.
Keep in mind we’re hearing the Speaker’s interpretation of what the Secretary of State said.

And yes, I well remember the closed primary legislation, and how he came to the committee hearing for testimony and thundered in the voice of God, how *dare* they put forth a piece of legislation like this without running it by his office first. It was beautiful.
extremevolunteer on April 09 at 4:23 p.m.
If I were the suspicious type, I would say this was an opportunity for the Speaker to try to kill two birds with one stone; first, to tackle the GOP’s long-term policy of disenfranchising the sorts of people who would be more likely to vote Democratic; and second, to beat back the annual calls from the County Clerks for legislation allowing vote-by-mail for everyone. Vote-by-mail is significantly less expensive for the counties and drives voter turnout up tremendously, and gives the voter the opportunity to sit down with the ballot at the kitchen table and make rational decisions about who to vote for and what initiatives and amendments to support or oppose. I remember living in Oregon before vote-by-mail and having to wade through a 200 page voter pamphlet and ten or fifteen initiatives, plus all the candidates from governor to mosquito abatement district commissioner; by mail is much better.
ericn1300 on April 09 at 4:53 p.m.
LOL @ Sisyphus “Why do they hate old people? Are they mad cause the disabled get all the good parking spots?”

Denney’s shot at sneaking this last minute bill in was more subterfuge than an a attempt to “get the attention of the county clerks and the secretary of state”

In the end I think Ysursa and the county clerks will “all come back and sing ‘kumbaya,’” without Denney after his bill is put up to the test of time and logical debate.
slfisher on April 09 at 8:40 p.m.
extremevolunteer, I think that’s exactly it. Recall how the bill to increase vote by mail a couple of years ago was watered down.
whynot on April 10 at 11:31 a.m.
Democracy is about increasing not decreasing voter turnout. But Idaho’s Republicans, who continually shout “freedom!” from the rafters, apparently fear a bit too much freedom for voters.

The GOP legislators openly do speak of fearing voter fraud, even though no one no where says voter fraud’s been happening in Idaho. Well, come to think of it, maybe a few nonRepublicans have been wondering how all the anti-wolf, anti-mail-in voter registration, anti-immigration, anti-daycare, anti-choice, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-prescription fulfillment, anti-fuel-tax, and pro-state-sovereignty GOP legislators got elected in the first place. Ah! Must have been voter fraud!
HaydenNana on April 11 at 12:09 p.m.
When we lived in rural Bonner County, there was no way we could have easily registered and voted in person. That would have required a 50-mile round trip to Sandpoint to register and a treacherous drive down dirt roads, usually on snowy nights in November, to a Grange Hall to vote. We live in town now, and I still like voting by mail, especially when there is a complicated issue that I want to carefully consider and/or discuss with others.

I’ve become a volunteer election official and I find that people who come to the polling place to register and vote are concerned citizens who have a definate opinion about the people or issues on which they are voting. I can’t remember a single instance of attempted fraud.
BRR on April 11 at 10:26 p.m.
Taking the risk that someone has already said this — the biggest voter fraud is perpetrated on voters by these insular ideologues who despite a 2/3 majority feel mightily threatened.

Some citizens even advocate that only property owners should be able to vote. Listen to Boise local talk radio to hear this view.

Is it possible in this state to go too far to the right?