Most ballots expected to be counted by midnight

SANDPOINT — The will of Bonner County voters should be clear by midnight on Election Day, according to Clerk Michael Rosedale.

"We’re going to have the 95th percentile by probably midnight. Then the last 5 percent are going to take us possibly until noon the next day," Rosedale said on Monday.

The final tally will ultimately depend on how many voters cast their absentee ballots at their respective polling precincts.

"When [poll workers bearing ballot boxes] come back at 10 o'clock at night, we have to finish our regular scanning, then we will have to individually — ballot by ballot — wand the bar codes and check the signatures. That is really slow going," Rosedale said.

President Donald J. Trump, who is being challenged by former Vice President Joe Biden, has encouraged his supporters to act as poll watchers on Election Day, although Rosedale said Idaho law does not allow such a practice unless the poll watcher has already registered.

"We have 12 poll watchers, registered properly, spread throughout the county," said Rosedale, a Republican.

Rosedale said self-appointed poll watchers can be outside polling precincts, but they won't be allowed inside.

"They can't go in by law if they don't sign up with me through their relative parties," said Rosedale.

The deadline to register as a poll watcher lapsed last Thursday, according to the Idaho Secretary of State's 2020 election calendar.

Rosedale said there has been no electioneering — the display of political signs and paraphernalia within 100 feet of a precinct — at the Bonner County Administration Building, where early and in-person absentee voting is underway until 5 p.m. on Friday.

Rosedale said two voters came to the building on unrelated business and saw they could cast their ballots. They decided to vote, but were wearing political-themed hats. They were asked to remove them and Rosedale said they cordially complied.

Voters who have cast ballots ahead of Election Day can track the status of their votes by going to idahovotes.gov and clicking on the "Check Your Voter Record" button located beneath the Online Voter Tools header.

"It tells you the status of your ballot, whether it's been issued, received, when it was mailed to you and when we received it back," said Rosedale.

Ballots dropped off at the secure ballot box at the admin building are collected daily at 5 p.m., stored under lock and key overnight and scanned the next morning, which will add them to the idahovotes.gov ballot tracker system.

The election is already clocking a 32.72 percent turnout. Rosedale said deputy clerks have processed 8,972 absentee ballots and tallied 1,162 early votes. The county distributed 13,476 absentee ballots ahead of the general election.

"I would say before all this is over, we'll have at least 13,000 to 14,000 early voters.

Rosedale is optimistic civility will reign when the Election Day dust settles.

"I believe, fully, that there are other places that will not be calm, but I think Bonner County will be calm," he said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com or followed on Twitter @KeithDaily Bee