Idaho primary turnout: Just 23% of registered voters

BOISE – Turnout in Idaho’s May 17 primary election was just 23 percent of registered voters statewide.

That figure was released Wednesday as the state Board of Canvassers met to officially certify the election results. “It could’ve been worse,” said Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, who chairs the board. “I think that’s driven by who’s on the ballot and what’s on the ballot. We had from 60 percent down to 16 percent in the different counties.”

There also were fewer candidates and fewer contested races statewide than the last primary election in 2014, particularly in legislative races. The 2014 primary, which included contested races for governor and other top state offices, drew 26.1 percent of registered voters.

Chief Deputy Secretary of State Tim Hurst noted that while 23 percent of registered voters cast ballots on May 17, that came to just 14.7 percent of the voting-age population.

Statewide, 176,806 ballots were cast. Among that total, 24,890, or 14.1 percent, were absentee ballots.