Kootenai County voters have until May 8 to request absentee ballots

Kootenai County voters still have time to get an absentee ballot for the May 19 primary, but the clock is moving. The county clerk’s office has already logged 4,122 requests, and voters must ask for one by 5 p.m. May 8.

Any registered Idaho voter can request an absentee ballot, and state election materials say it can be requested by mail, in person or online. Voted ballots must be back by 8 p.m. on Election Day to count, making the return deadline just as important as the request deadline.

The primary will carry more than candidate races in parts of the county. Kootenai County Elections says ballot questions will appear for voters in the relevant taxing districts, including the Kootenai County Fire & Rescue Levy, the Lakeland Joint School District No. 272 Levy and the Kellogg Joint School District No. 391 Levy. The county also says precinct committeeman races will appear on partisan ballots when candidates have filed, a detail that gives the May 19 election added weight inside party politics as well as local government.

Early voting is set to run from April 27 through May 15, giving voters another path to cast ballots before primary day. The Kootenai County Elections Office is at 1808 N. 3rd St. in Coeur d’Alene, where residents can also track what appears on their own ballots, since ballot questions and candidate lists vary by precinct and district.

Jennifer Locke, the county clerk, said it is difficult to predict whether this year’s absentee total will match earlier primaries. The numbers have shifted sharply before. Ahead of the 2024 primary, 8,364 Kootenai County voters requested absentee ballots and 7,101 returned them. In 2022, the county recorded 6,954 requests and 6,019 returns.

That swing matters in a county where contested local races and Republican Central Committee seats can shape the next round of political decisions. With absentee requests already under way and early voting about to open, Kootenai County voters still have several ways to participate, but May 8 is the last day to request an absentee ballot for the May 19 primary.