Latah County official encourages absentee voting

MOSCOW — Latah County Clerk/Auditor/Recorder Henrianne Westberg is strongly encouraging absentee voting this November to protect voters, election staff and poll workers from COVID-19.

“We really don’t want people to come to the polls,” Westberg said. “The polls will be open for people that really need a place, but they shouldn’t have to go to a poll and worry about whether they’re going to catch the virus. ... I don’t want to suppress voting. I want people to absentee vote so that we don’t have a big crowd at these polling places.”

Westberg asks voters to request a mail ballot by 5 p.m. Oct. 23. The county will start mailing ballots Sept. 18 upon request.

Every voter registered in Latah County who has not requested an absentee ballot has or will soon receive a letter from the Latah County Elections Department in the mail.

The letter notifies the voter of his or her polling location for the Nov. 3 general election and notes the “quickest and easiest way” to request a ballot be mailed is by submitting a request online at idahovotes.gov. Voters also can complete and return the form in the letter to the Latah County Auditor’s Office in person by placing it in the elections drop box at the Latah County Courthouse parking lot in Moscow, or by mailing it to Latah County Elections, P.O. Box 8068, Moscow, ID 83843.

Residents who are not registered to vote or need to reregister because they changed their addresses or names must do so by Oct. 9. Failure to register or reregister by the deadline means residents will have to do that during the early voting period or on Election Day.

Early voting is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays Oct. 13-30 and Oct. 17 and 24, which are Saturdays, at the courthouse.

Residents can vote at the polls from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Polling locations have been reduced in Latah County this November to compensate for the lack of poll workers, Westberg said. She said she is still seeking poll workers, but there will be enough by Election Day.

She said the University of Idaho polling location will temporarily move from the Bruce M. Pitman Center to the Student Recreation Center. Registered Moscow voters in precincts 1, 8, 16 and 18 can vote at the SRC.

The Hamilton Indoor Recreation Center will serve Moscow precincts 2, 3, 4, 17 and Viola precinct 30.

Voters in Moscow’s 10 remaining precincts can vote at the Latah County Fairgrounds.

Face masks and social distancing will be required for in-person voting, Westberg said.

Some rural polling places have been combined. Bovill Precinct 32 voters can vote at the Deary Community Center, Kendrick Precinct 24 will merge into Juliaetta and Harvard Precinct 22 into the Princeton Community Center.

Both of the Troy precincts can vote at the Troy Lions Hall.

Westberg said the county asked the Potlatch School District board if it can use Potlatch High School’s multipurpose room for voters in Cora Precinct 31, Palouse Precinct 26 and Potlatch Precinct 27.

Westberg said she tried to condense polling locations so that poll workers would be able to manage the polls while still providing a place for people to vote.

“It’s always my goal that everybody gets to vote and everybody’s vote counts,” she said.

While some across the country are worried about the security and delays of mail ballots, partially because of the substantial increase of absentee ballots expected, Westberg said she does not expect issues.

She said she spoke with local and regional U.S. Postal Service officials and they feel comfortable about election information being mailed. Westberg said the county pays first-class postage and flags election mail so the post offices know its significance.

After each election, Westberg said she reviews the ballots that arrived after the polls closed and could not be counted. She said she has found very few ballots that were mailed in time yet failed to reach the county by Election Day.

Voters can choose to place their ballot in the red, white and blue ballot drop box in the courthouse parking lot instead of mailing it.

Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.