2012 Guide to the Muddy Waters of Kootenai County's Primary Elections

Update: Final results of this election can be found here.
Other information about primary night, including a link to statewide results is available here.

Idaho's primary election is coming up on Tuesday, May 15. The polls will be open from 8:00a to 8:00p. Idaho's election rules have been changing over the past couple of years, and it is important to go into this primary election with a full perspective of voter requirements and the candidates in this year's election.

First and foremost, remember to take your photo ID into your voting site. Idaho requires a valid photo ID in order to vote. If you do not have an acceptable form of ID, you will not be denied the ability to vote, but you will be required to sign a Personal Identity Affidavit.

Second, you must be a registered voter in Idaho in order to vote in this election. You should be able to register at your polling place with forms provided there. You can also register prior to the election at the Elections office, 1808 N. 3rd St.

Third, you will be required to declare your party affiliation if you want to vote on a Democratic, a Republican or a Non-Partisan ballot for this election. As of July 1, 2011, voters are required to declare their political party affiliation for primary elections. These forms will be available at the polling site, from the Elections office, or online here. The Kootenai County election website specifically states, "Note that voters will be required to declare their Political Party preference before they are given a Democratic, a Republican or a Non-Partisan ballot for this election."

The Kootenai County Elections Office has a polling place lookup tool available here. Since Kootenai County was redistricted, your precinct number and/or polling site may have changed since the last election!

Since party affiliation is required in order to vote in this primary election, each set of voters will see a distinctly different ballot and unaffiliated voters will only be able to vote for judges. I'll keep the suspense to a minimum: the only choices on the unaffiliated ballot for judges are the current incumbents, Dan Eismann for Idaho Supreme Court, David Gratton and John M. Melanson for the Court of Appeals positions. An unaffiliated voter may do better to choose either a Democratic or Republican affiliation to vote on a wider selection of candidates as well as the judges. There are no restrictions on changing parties, so you can change back to unaffiliated after the election if you wish.

This is also the year to vote on precinct committee members to represent your party (Democrat or Republican) to the party's Central Committee. Committee members are elected to a two-year term and help determine a number of aspects of the way their party is run and organized in Kootenai County. I have heard that the committee person portion of the ballot is just a small scrap of paper in the absentee ballots, so be sure to find that piece of paper and vote for the person you want to represent your precinct in your party's Central Committee.

So, what will you see on your ballot? You will find the ballots for each district below, as well as an informative page on each district's candidates. Since each precinct has different precinct committee candidates, click on the precinct committee link for your party to see the candidates.

State & Countywide Democratic Candidates
State & Countywide Republican Candidates
District 2 Democratic Candidates | (sample ballot)
District 2 Republican Candidates | (sample ballot)
District 3 Democratic Candidates | (sample ballot)
District 3 Republican Candidates | (sample ballot)
District 4 Democratic Candidates | (sample ballot)
District 4 Republican Candidates | (sample ballot)
Democratic Central Committee Candidates
Republican Central Committee Candidates
Non-Partisan Candidates | (sample ballot)
Northern Lakes Fire Protection District Levy | (sample ballot)

Remember, if you are a candidate or represent a candidate, we welcome you to leave a comment on the relevant page to give voters more information! We do ask that all discussion remain civil and that candidates, representatives, and the public remain respectful toward one another.