One day before the election, one in three registered Idahoans has already voted

IDAHO FALLS – More than one in three registered voters in Idaho – 35.67% – have already cast their ballots as the country prepares for a momentous and contentious general election on Tuesday.

As of Monday, 380,603 Idaho residents cast early and absentee ballots in the November general election, according to the Idaho Department of State.

Idaho has 1,068,941 registered voters, of which 630,539 (59%) are Republicans, 283,913 (27%) are unaffiliated, and 136,047 (13%) are Democrats. Another 12,023 voters (1%) are Libertarians and 4,448 (0%) belong to the Constitution Party.

Breaking down the numbers

According to the State Department, the vast majority of voters who cast early and mail-in ballots statewide were Republicans. Here's a breakdown of the numbers:

• 239,965 Republicans
• 81,578 independents
• 55,472 Democrats
• 2,539 libertarians
• 1,049 were members of the Constitution Party

One in five registered voters (20.6%), or a total of 220,586 Idahoans, participated in early voting, which ended Friday.

Additionally, 160,017 mail-in ballots had been returned as of November 4th.

The state initially issued 192,461 mail-in ballots, meaning 83.1% of requested mail-in ballots have been submitted and more are coming.

East Idaho counties are breaking single-day early voting records

In Bonneville County, 20,495 people (32% of registered voters) voted early or by absentee ballot, said Helena Welling, Bonneville County elections director.

In total, 13,203 people voted early, and 7,292 mail-in ballots were returned – and more are still coming.

“I think there's a lot of talk in the media about this election, and it seems like there are a lot of people who have very strong feelings about this election – the direction they think it needs to go,” Welling said. “So it’s the driving force behind it.”

Both Bonneville and Bannock County broke single-day early voting records on Friday, Nov. 1, the final day of early voting, officials confirmed.

In Bonneville County, 2,210 people voted Friday and 507 people registered to vote on the final day of early voting.

“It was a big record for us,” Welling said.

In Bannock County, 1,272 people voted Friday, compared to nearly 1,000 voters on the last day of early voting in 2020.

A total of 15,397 Bannock counties have already voted early or by mail in this election.

“It’s very popular,” said Brandi McCarron, Bannock County elections director.

In 2020, about 22,000 Bannock voters participated in early and absentee voting, she said, but this year was an anomaly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2016, only about 8,000 Bannock voters submitted their ballots early or by mail.

Madison County also saw strong voter turnout, with 4,630 early and mail-in ballots cast — representing about 22% of registered voters, county elections director Brenda Stoor said.

Rexburg is seeing a high number of college students seeking to register, but some have been turned away this year because a new 2023 state law requires them to present an Idaho ID, driver's license or passport to vote.

Statewide, voters can submit mail-in ballots to their local election office until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

“Mail-in ballots cannot be taken to polling stations,” Welling said. “People can go to a polling station and vote even if they have a mail-in ballot. If you haven’t voted yet, you have to have this (postal) ballot paper rejected and you can then vote there at the polling station.”

Overall, election officials expect an excellent voter turnout on Tuesday.

“They’ll be out in droves tomorrow,” Stoor said.

Polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m

For a complete list of polling locations, sample ballots and documents required to register to vote, visit voteidaho.gov.

EastIdahoNews.com will work late Tuesday to provide complete election coverage. The results, accurate to the second, will be published on Tuesday evening.