GOP official presses absentee issue

SANDPOINT — An 11th-hour attempt to keep Bonner County elections officials from opening absentee ballots prior to Tuesday’s general election has come up short.

Republican election poll challenger Larry Spencer filed suit against Clerk Marie Scott late Monday afternoon to keep her or her deputies from opening absentee ballot envelopes prior to the election.

First District Judge Steve Verby disqualified himself late Monday afternoon from hearing the complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief because it involved the clerk of the court in which he presides.

The matter was transferred to 1st District Court’s administrative judge for reassignment. Scott said she received word on Tuesday afternoon that Judge Benjamin Simpson had dismissed Spencer’s civil action.

Although Idaho Code appears to prohibit county clerks from prematurely opening absentee ballots, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office is allowing them to be opened beforehand to smooth the counting process.

Secretary of State Ben Ysursa is allowing the practice because of the substantial number of absentee ballots that are being turned in. Absentee ballots are also returned to the county folded, which can lead to jams in optical-scan ballot readers.

As a result, clerks have been storing voted absentee ballots in locked ballot boxes so they have time to flatten out before they are fed through the ballot readers.

The exception, however, has raised concerns about the integrity of the voting process despite rigid guidelines for securely storing them.

Spencer said it boils down to following the law and not making exceptions for the sake of convenience.

“It’s very much about following the rules. Complacency in elections is a recipe for disaster,” said Spencer, who plans on pressing the issue in the courts and the Legislature.

County Clerk Marie Scott said the security guidelines are being strictly adhered to. They include storing the locked ballot boxes in a secure location with an armed guard.

“The processes that I follow are authorized and approved by the secretary of state’s office. Ben Ysursa is Grand Poobah when it comes to conducting elections — not Larry Spencer,” she said.

There are 23,034 registered voters in Bonner County and 3,379 absentee ballots were distributed, which represents a little more than 14 percent of the registered vote.

Scott said her staff began removing sealed absentee ballot envelopes from their mailing envelopes on Thursday. Removing the ballots from their sealed envelopes for flat storage began on Monday and representatives from the Republican and Democratic parties were invited to view the process.

Scott, a Democrat who is being challenged by Republican Bud Mueller, said she has not laid a finger on any absentee ballot prior to Tuesday’s tallying.

“But when it comes to counting night, I count ballots with everybody else,” said Scott.