Idaho House passes bill to eliminate August elections

A bill that would eliminate August elections from Idaho’s election schedule cleared the state House Monday on a 45-24 vote.

House Bill 106 — spearheaded by Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens — saw strong opposition from educators who made their voices heard in committee meetings last week. Many stressed the importance of August elections not only for budget planning considerations but also because school levies, one of the few purposes of August elections, are more likely to pass in August.

But the House majority — including every representative from Kootenai County — voted to eliminate the election date. Rep. Jim Addis, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he voted for HB 106 because of what he sees as a smaller voter turnout deciding much larger issues in a down election.

“My whole thing is, I want as many people to vote in elections as possible,” Addis told the Coeur d’Alene Press after Monday’s vote. “I really like the idea of having these issues in May and November elections, because you have far more people voting. If we’re going to talk about taxing and passing levies, I want the most people possible to vote. I don’t want fewer people making those kinds of decisions for everybody else.”

Idaho currently reserves four dates for elections: March, May, August and November. School levies this year will mostly be decided in March, though the Kootenai County Elections Office lists Aug. 31 as a possible date for a potential Coeur d’Alene School District 271 levy.

Jim Brannon, Kootenai County clerk, declined to comment on HB 106’s passage in the House, saying nothing’s official until the Senate and the governor sign on.

“I have a practice,” Brannon said. “I try not to deal with what-ifs. I follow the laws, and if House Bill 106 passes, I’ll deal with it. If it doesn’t, I’ll continue with the course we’re on.”

HB 106 now moves to the Senate.