Idaho’s 1st Congressional District offered an exciting six-way Republican primary featuring legislators and state Controller Keith Johnson – and only 24 percent of Kootenai County’s voters cast ballots.

In Kootenai County, four Republicans vied for party nominations in two county commissioner contests without Democratic opposition in the fall – and less than one in four voters bothered to go to the polls. In northern Kootenai County, voter apathy prevailed despite the added incentive of three winner-take-all GOP primaries for the Idaho Legislature.

Local Democrats have an excuse for failing to vote, although a poor one. Unless they voted Republican, they had few contested races on their ballot. However, the overall Kootenai County voter turnout, with so many important races at stake, was appalling.

Rather than wring hands, elected officials and other concerned citizens can find a solution to voter lethargy elsewhere in the Northwest. In Oregon, citizens have been voting by mail in presidential races since November 2000. In an advisory vote in Spokane County last November, about 58 percent of the registered voters preferred the vote-by-mail system, a new Washington option that county commissioners imposed in December.

With voter participation low in the May primary, it’s time for Idaho to allow a county option to vote by mail.

Many consider strict vote-by-mail to be heresy. Although Spokane County Commissioner Todd Mielke supported the switch, he said that taking away the polls “strikes at the core of democracy.” Indeed, there’s something traditionally American about going to the polls at a local school or church, gabbing with neighbors, receiving a ballot from a poll worker, and then filing to a booth to vote.

With the fast pace today, however, many are too pressed for time to rush to the polls. A mail-in ballot that can be studied over a period of two weeks before Election Day has been shown to increase turnout and give voters every chance to cast intelligent ballots.

To his credit, progressive Kootenai County Clerk Dan English plans to introduce a resolution to the annual conference of the Idaho Association of County Recorders and Clerks in August, supporting local-option vote-by-mail. English told The Spokesman-Review that voter turnout is the reason behind his resolution. In Oregon, turnout jumped significantly after voters adopted the vote-by-mail system in 1998, particularly for smaller elections, like city ones.

However, there are other issues prompting English’s crusade.

In Oregon, the vote-by-mail system has saved money because county clerks aren’t required to find and staff far-flung polling places. English also believes that county clerks in Idaho may soon face the day when schools refuse to allow access for security reasons. On Election Day, school officials who routinely screen adults entering their buildings allow carte blanche access to grown-ups for the purpose of voting.

Resistance to this idea is normal. But Oregonians are enthusiastic about it. Spokane County residents soon will be. It’s time for Idaho to follow suit.