State election officials meet in Idaho Falls to certify May primary election results

(Idaho Capital Sun) — Idaho election officials have certified the results of Idaho’s May 21 primary election, featuring state legislative and congressional partisan races.

The Idaho State Board of Canvassers — composed of Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth and Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf — certified the results of the May 2024 primary election on Wednesday in Idaho Falls at the Mountain America Center.

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Around two dozen people turned out in-person for the meeting. McGrane said it was the highest turnout he’d seen for State Board of Canvassers meetings.

“What’s special about today … is this is the first time not doing it in a conference room in the Capitol building,” McGrane told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview in Idaho Falls. “We did it in front of a live audience, specifically largely made up of the county clerks who ran the election. For almost I believe all of the county clerks in attendance today, this is the first time they’ve ever seen or participated in the state canvas.”

McGrane said he expects a recount in the Republican primary for Idaho House Seat B for Idaho’s legislative district 30 in eastern Idaho.

Unofficial election results indicated Republican challenger Ben Fuhriman, of Shelley, defeated incumbent Rep. Julianne Young, of Blackfoot, by two votes. The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office announced last month Fuhriman’s lead fell from 10 votes, after election officials discovered a disparity of eight votes, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

The race results are within the margin for a state-paid recount. McGrane said he expects a recount request Wednesday.

He told the Sun he expects the recount to be conducted this month. McGrane said he isn’t anticipating a recount in other state races.

About 27.9% of Idaho registered voters turned out to vote in the May primary election, according to new estimates from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office that feature party estimates. Earlier estimates showed a nearly 24% voter turnout rate, the Sun previously reported.

Idaho’s post-election audit reinforces voting system reliability, official says

As part of Idaho’s primary election results canvas, Idaho counties submitted vote totals by precinct for legislative races, congressional races and judicial races, Idaho Secretary of State’s Office Data Visualization Specialist Gabe Osterhout said at the meeting. The canvas involved manually checking the totals, he said.

The Idaho Secretary of State’s office presented the audit results of eight county elections, following the May 21 primary election. Many of the counties had a perfect match in results following the audit, McGrane told the Sun.

“We did see one or two variants, but only one of note and it wasn’t significant to impact any race,” McGrane told the Sun.

Idaho Secretary of State’s Office Voting System Specialist Dan Lee said at the meeting the findings of the audits “reinforce the reliability of our voting systems and the processes while highlighting areas for improvement.”

In an audit of Canyon County votes in the race for Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, Lee said state officials found one over-counted ballot and one under-counted ballot among 4,870 ballots.

In Valley County, officials found four additional ballots for a total of 2,865 ballots during its hand-counted audit process, Lee said.

McGrane told the Sun the Secretary of State’s Office plans to revisit Valley County for ballot storage, organization and record-keeping improvements ahead of the general election on Nov. 5.

“The Secretary of State’s office and the county clerks remain committed to conducting open, honest and fair elections,” Lee said. “By continuing these post-election audits, the Office aims to bolster public confidence and ensure that every Idahoan’s vote is accurately counted and properly recorded.”