Idaho
Idaho bill restricting who could apply for absentee ballots sent out for possible amendments • Idaho Capital Sun
A bill that would place restrictions on who could apply for an absentee ballot in Idaho was sent out for possible amendments Wednesday after members of the public and several state and county elections officials came out against the bill.
Sponsored by Rep. Mike Kingsley, R-Lewiston, House Bill 667 would make several changes to absentee voting.
Under the bill, a voter would only be able to request an absentee ballot if they were unable to vote in-person on Election Day or on all the other early voting days if the voter “anticipated being out of the jurisdiction on such days” or the voter “has an illness or another disability that would prevent the elector from voting in person on such days.”
Currently, Idaho voters can request an absentee ballot for any reason, which is sometimes called no excuse absentee voting.
Absentee voting in Idaho elections
Absentee voting is popular in Idaho. For example, in the 2022 general election, 129,210 Idahoans voted by absentee ballot, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office. That’s about 22% of all ballots cast in the 2022 general election.
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House Bill 667 would also prohibit political parties and other organizations from mailing absentee ballot request forms to voters. Under the bill, only a voter could request that an absentee ballot form be mailed to them. The bill would also block political parties and other organizations from filling out absentee ballot forms for a voter.
Kingsley said he included that language in the bill because a partially completed absentee ballot request form for his daughter arrived at his house even though Kingsley said she hadn’t lived there in six years.
“I was tempted to sign it to see if I could get a ballot, but that’s illegal, so I didn’t think that was a good thing to do,” Kingsley said during Wednesday’s public hearing on the bill. “But I can sure see the temptation for people to do that.”
Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, Valley County Clerk Douglas Miller, Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple and Idaho County Clerk Kathy Ackerman all testified in opposition to the bill Wednesday.
Tripple told the House State Affairs Committee he opposes the bill specifically because it would eliminate no excuse absentee voting.
“It’s disheartening to see that,” Tripple told legislators. “Clerks across the state for the last several years have worked tirelessly to make sure that we are managing who can vote and who has voted. This on top of that, on determining how they get to vote, would create a whole lot of workload for clerks. It would create confusion for us. It would also create confusion for voters.”
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The elections laws in Idaho are the envy of the rest of the nation, Tripple added.
“The no excuse absentee, partnered with early voting and robust Election Day voting with same-day registration is something everyone else wants,” Tripple said. “This chips away at that, and I think it’s probably not good for the citizens of Ada County, as well as the citizens of Idaho.”
Others who testified Wednesday said the bill would add limitations to voting and could omit people like farmers, people who live in remote locations far from a polling location, elderly voters who are not ill or disabled, people who lack transportation and people who want to send more time reading their ballots and conducting research from the comfort of home.
Despite public opposition, Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, tried to advance the bill to the floor of the Idaho House of Representatives with a recommendation to pass it.
“We’ve definitely conflated the idea that the right to vote somehow now has become an affirmative governmental requirement to make sure that everyone gets to vote,” Barbieri said during Wednesday’s meeting of the House State Affairs Committee. “And I think the availability of voting is an important right. But when we start making it the government’s responsibility, I think it’s kind of changed things over a little bit. We want to make sure that they’re secure. We want to make sure that they are available. We want to make sure that we can do so in a safe and fraud-free way. And to make the government suddenly required to assure that everyone gets to vote – not can vote – but gets to vote, I think we have kind of overstepped the bounds.”
But in the end, the House State Affairs Committee voted to send the bill out for amendments.
Amending bills can often be an unpredictable process that is difficult to follow. Once a bill is sent out for amendments, any legislator can propose any amendment for any reason – whether or not the proposed amendment has anything to do with the original bill.
Sending House Bill 667 out for amendments blocked advancing it to the House floor for a vote in its current form.
We’re lucky to live in a place as safe as the Treasure Valley. Despite our growth, one of the things that makes our area so special is the way that we look out for one another–for our neighbors! That’s a principle that seems to have held on as Boise has boomed.
Despite low crime rates, there seems to always be one incident or so that makes us scratch our heads.
A recent string of fraud incidents in the Treasure Valley area is one of those.
Nampa Police initially warned the public of this because cases of fraud began to ‘mushroom’. Then, it took an interesting turn–people that HAD their credit cards were being ‘taken to the bank’, so to speak.
In a statement originally released on April 30th by the Nampa Police Department, officials advised the following:
We are not sure how the suspects are gaining access to the victim’s credit cards. There is a growing fraud scheme, “ghost tapping”, that scammers are using to access victims’ credit cards. This is possibly occurring in these instances. “Ghost tapping” uses stolen credit card details in Apple Pay or Google Pay, then remotely relays the tap signal over the internet to a ‘mule’ at a store, allowing them to make high-value purchases that appear completely legitimate. (We’ll share more information on ghost tapping in a later public service announcement that will also suggest ways to protect yourself.) The app used by these criminals obscures the actual credit card number, making it harder for investigators to link a victim to a particular crime. Keep in mind that victims still have their physical credit cards while suspects use the stolen card information to make purchases, which also affects how victims are alerted. So far, local investigators have not been able to identify a common theme among the victims (e.g., a specific bank, a website they visited, a gas pump they used, etc.) in the fraud cases we are investigating.
The investigation spans far and wide.
Authorities say that some suspects are in custody, others are being contacted, and others are still at large.
Now, a week later, the police are back to reaching out to the public–this time, urging people to check their bank accounts.
Nampa Police say that they have caught onto a pattern– there are fraudulent charges at Albertson’s to purchase gift cards, at Costco to purchase Apple products, and at Best Buy, also for Apple products.
Check those bank statements!
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The USDA has issued a public health alert for various meat and poultry products containing FDA-regulated dairy that may have been contaminated with salmonella. The recall was originally issued on April 30th, but the contaminated product list could continue to grow as more products are identified.
The Food Safety and Inspection arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the public health alert and there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of the products listed below, consumers are still advised to dispose of the items or return them to the place of purchase. Great Value and Pork King Good products sold at Idaho Walmart stores are included in the alert and recall.
Public Health Alert and Food Recall Issued For Pizza and Pork Rinds Sold in Idaho
As of right now, the food list includes pork rinds, breakfast pizzas, and chicken bacon ranch pizzas. The list could grow and the USDA advises consumers to check the list frequently. We will also update the list here when possible. The contaminated products carry a variety of ‘Best By’ and ‘Produced On’ dates, so check the lists carefully to make sure you don’t consume a contaminated product.
The nationwide brands to look for are Mama Cozzi’s from Aldi stores, Pork King Good, and Great Value at Walmart Stores.
Photo Credit USDA – 1
Photo Credit USDA – 1
You can also look through these label photos to see if you have the product in your freezer.
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
Photo Credit USDA Recalls
If you feel sick and have consumed a contaminated product, the USDA advise you to contact your health care provider.
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Food Network just posted a compilation video of Guy at these spots!
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