Idaho sees big spike in absentee ballots

BOISE — Just a few weeks ago, Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa was worried that voter turnout this fall might mirror the primary election in May — near record low.

But county clerks across the state are seeing a huge spike in the number of people requesting absentee ballots, possibly foreshadowing a much larger than expected turnout on Nov. 2.

“What’s moving this, to me, is the presidential election,” the Republican said Friday.

Previously, Ysursa said he hoped to see 70 percent turnout in the General Election, though he was skeptical even about that figure following the 26.5 percent turnout on May 25.

“We were concerned about it. We have no ballot issues or truly competitive statewide races. Everything was in place to not have a good turnout,” he said.

But the war in Iraq, heavy campaign media coverage and fiery rhetoric from the Republican and Democratic National Conventions appear to have stirred the public’s political conscience.

“There’s a real black-and-white difference between the candidates and the parties. And Iraq is not an abstract situation, because we have our National Guard soldiers going there,” Ysursa said.

In Ada County, the state’s most populous, Deputy County Clerk Christopher Rich said absentee ballot requests were way up — even compared with previous presidential election years.

Rich said he didn’t know exactly how many had been requested, but the stack of applications stood about eight inches high. “We have hundreds, at least,” Rich said.

The same goes for Canyon and Kootenai counties, the state’s second- and third- largest.

In Kootenai County, Elections Supervisor Deedie Beard has added a night shift to keep up with data entry work.

At this time in 2000, they had 586 requests for absentee ballots. As of Thursday, they had 2,149.

“People who haven’t voted in years and years are voting in this election,” Beard said. “One lady came in to register, she was born in 1925 and on her registration card said she had ‘never voted.’ I’m sure it has to do with the war and the economy.”

Politically, Idaho remains one of the most Republican states in the union, with 78 percent of the Legislature and all but one statewide office in GOP hands.

Democratic Party organizers say they don’t expect their nominee, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, to carry Idaho’s four electoral votes. But they are working to reach people who have not traditionally voted.