Women’s League Forum — Clerk

• Dan English goes first and is now reading an opening statement. He touts his 15 years as a county clerk.
• Cliff Hayes touts his 26 years with the Post Falls police and city. He gets a laugh by pointing out he has 5 children and all have college degrees but one. And none have been in jail.
• Cliff says the recent Coeur d’Alene City Council election shows that changes need to be made in the clerk’s office. He said the election department is the most important and that some people don’t have confidence in the election department.
• Dan: We just went through one of the most scrutinized elections in history of Idaho. He agrees that things can improve. At the same time, I was gratified that judge said at conclusion of case re: how complex elections are and how well the elections department did.
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• Dan re: vote-by-mail: Supports counties being allowed to judge for themselves if they want to vote by mail. He mentions he was president of the state clerk’s association 3 or 4 years ago. “Absentee voting isn’t a political issue, it’s a customer service issue.”
• Cliff: We already have a vote-by-mail. You can vote by absentee. It wouldn’t make sense to mandate it legislatively. As far as absentee goes, I think you have to file again every 5 years to continue to do so.
• Cliff re: changes in election laws: We need changes in re: to federal voting regulations. There were tremendous problems in last election that was brought out at trial. He cites a couple of examples involving absentee votes (including two ballots in one envelope). Also, we need to get all of the people trained thoroughly on election issues.
• Dan agrees that federal election regulations involving military personnel, missionaries, and people living out of state need to be cleaned up for Idaho elections.
• Closing for Dan: Touts experience, quality of his service, education, and people skills since 1995. Cliff: I think a change in the clerk’s office is due. We need to grab more of the voters’ confidence than they do now. We need to see if there are problems beyond the elections department. It’s hard to find out what the problems are because office workers don’t talk to someone on the outside.