On Nov. 9, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane issued a recount for all midterm votes cast in Latah County after 2,342 votes were found to not be included on the unofficial total results on election night. The votes that went uncounted included early voting and absentee ballots that were sent in before election day. After retallying the previously left out ballots, McGrane stated that none of the formerly announced election results were changed. With these votes that were not included in the final tally, McGrane stated that no results of the election were flipped or overturned.
The recount, supervised by the Idaho Office of Secretary of State, began Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 9:30 a.m. and finished on Nov. 11. According to the Idaho Capital Sun, the uncounted votes accounted for 13% of all 18,104 votes cast in Latah County.
With the number of votes that had been missed, every county race had a chance of being overturned. According to Boise State Public News Radio (BSPNS), the Moscow School District Plant Facilities Reserve Fund Levy was the closest to being overturned, but rose to 60.34% approval, passing the 60% threshold to pass.
In a statement released on Nov. 9, McGrane said that he has called for a recount because “Every Idahoan needs to have confidence that their vote counted.” He also wrote that he is “working closely with Latah County Clerk Julie Fry and her team to ensure the results are accurately reported, and every vote is properly accounted for.”
The votes had been found to have been counted but were not transferred to the database that residents could look at to see vote totals during the canvas, where the county makes sure all votes were counted correctly. In a phone interview with BSPNS, Tom Lamar, a member of the county commission, said that the missed votes were found on a memory stick.
A formal complaint to Phil McGrane’s office was submitted by the Democratic Latah County Commissioner candidate, Laura Heinse, asking for a recount. Heinse wrote that “This raises serious questions about the county’s election-night reconciliation procedures, the reliability of the reported results, and whether additional reporting discrepancies may exist,” according to BSPNS.
McGrane also wrote in the Nov. 9 statement that he is “working closely with Latah County Clerk Julie Fry and her team to ensure the results are accurately reported, and every vote is properly accounted for.”
Fry said in a statement that “We take our responsibility to accurately report election results seriously, and this error should not have happened.” Fry also stated,“I’m grateful to our election staff and the Secretary of State’s Office for their work to verify the results and ensure every ballot is properly accounted for.”
Kevan Mitchell can be reached at [email protected]