Friday, Oct. 14 is the last day for Idahoans to pre-register to vote ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.
Voters may pre-register at their local county clerk’s office or online at www.voteidaho.gov. The deadline to pre-register at the county clerk’s office is 5 p.m. Friday, while the deadline to register online is 11:59 p.m. Friday, according to the Idaho Voters Pamphlet produced by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office.
If interested voters miss Friday’s deadline, there are still several options to vote in the Nov. 8 general election. If voters participate in early in-person voting, which is offered from Oct. 24 through Nov. 4 in many Idaho counties, including Ada and Canyon, they may register to vote at that time. Voters may also register to vote at their polling place when they vote in-person on Election Day, Nov. 8.
When Idahoans register to vote, a poll worker will ask them to provide a form of identification. Acceptable forms of ID for voter registration include an Idaho driver’s license or state ID card, a U.S. passport or federal photo identification card, a tribal photo identification, a current student ID issued by an Idaho high school, college or university or a license to carry a concealed weapon that has been issued by a county sheriff in Idaho. Instead of showing ID, a voter may also sign a sworn personal identification affidavit.
November’s general election will shape government and politics for years to come. Nationally, it’s the midterms and both of Idaho’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the state’s two seats in the U.S. Senate is up for election. On top of that, all statewide offices including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction are up for election this year. All 105 seats in the Legislature are also up for election, although more than half of the races are not contested.
A proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution that would allow the Idaho Legislature to call itself back into session and a nonbinding advisory question about education funding and taxes will also be on all Idaho voters’ ballots. Depending on where they live, voters may also have county commission, county offices such as sheriff, treasurer or clerk, community college trustees and nonpartisan judges on their ballots.
To check whether you are registered to vote, pre-register to vote by Friday’s deadline, request an absentee ballot, find your polling location or check which legislative and congressional districts you live in, visit the Idaho Secretary of State’s elections website www.voteidaho.gov or call your local county clerk or elections office.
