Idaho
Idaho Secretary of State removing 36 likely noncitizens as registered voters, says some voted • Idaho Capital Sun
Editor’s note: This is the second story of a two-part series focused on noncitizen voting in Idaho elections. The previous story, focused on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban noncitizen voting, published last week.
The Idaho Secretary of State Office is in the process of removing 36 “very likely” noncitizens from Idaho’s registered voter rolls.
Some of those noncitizens voted in past elections in Idaho, Secretary of State Phil McGrane told the Idaho Capital Sun, but he didn’t specify how many.
No noncitizens voted in Idaho’s statewide primary election this May, he said, and state election officials are working to ensure that no noncitizens vote in the upcoming November general election.
“There are a number of them that do have some form of voting history — whether it’s in local elections or some other election,” McGrane told the Sun. “And at this point, we’re handling each of those on a case-by-case basis” with law enforcement and county clerks.
Amid years of false claims about droves of noncitizens voting in federal elections, Idaho’s top election official sought to make clear that noncitizen voting in Idaho — an Idaho and federal crime — is rare, and that election officials are working to bolster election security systems to prevent noncitizen votes, under an executive order signed this summer.
“Out of the million plus registered voters we started with, we’re down to 10 thousandths of a percent in terms of this number. … This is very rare, it’s very limited,” McGrane told the Sun about noncitizen votes in Idaho.
The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office is now working through due process work to ensure that those people flagged were actually noncitizens, he said, like allowing people to prove citizenship.
The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office has talked with law enforcement offices, including the federal U.S. Attorney’s Office, about “any enforcement mechanisms that need to be put in place,” McGrane said.
How many noncitizens have voted in Idaho elections?
McGrane wouldn’t offer a direct number on how many of the 36 likely noncitizens, who are registered voters, had voted in past elections. He generally said some had — but not in this May’s statewide primary election, featuring state legislative, congressional and local races.
Since January 10, 2020, in Ada County, 78 registered voters were removed for not being a U.S. citizen, according to a report Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple shared with the Sun, which included data as recent as Oct. 4, 2024.
One case, in 2020, was the only instance of noncitizen voting in Ada County that Tripple knew of and the county’s records show, he told the Sun. That case involved a Canadian citizen — who Tripple declined to identify — and was referred to prosecutors. He said he didn’t know the case’s outcome.
“I would hope that citizens in Idaho know that — in my estimation — the will of the voter has been reflected in every single election that I know of, based off those that are legally eligible to vote,” Tripple told the Sun. “And so I push back on the notion that there’s people that are not allowed to vote that are affecting the outcomes of our elections.”
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How else do Idaho election officials clean the voter rolls?
Beyond just preventing noncitizens from voting, Tripple stressed that local Idaho election officials are always “extremely active” in cleaning the voter rolls for a range of reasons, including when people die or move.
Ada County. (Courtesy of Ada County)
The report Tripple shared, spanning almost five years, said more than 29,000 voters in general in Ada County were removed for maintenance, along with over 9,800 for being deceased, nearly 3,800 for being registered more than once, another 604 for having felonies, among other reasons.
“I think it’s a misnomer for people to think that there’s a goal out there for a perfect election, and that we’re going to achieve it at some point in the future,” Tripple told the Sun. “This is an imperfect process for us. We have rules in place if we find them, and we’re actively pursuing anybody that should not be allowed to vote on a regular basis and removing them from voter rolls.”
Every two years, Idaho election officials purge the registered voter rolls. Idaho law requires county clerks to cancel registrations for voters who didn’t vote in the past four years.
In 2023, over 74,000 Idaho registered voters were removed “due to inactivity, change of address, or who were otherwise determined to be ineligible to vote,” according to a previous Idaho Secretary of State’s Office news release.
“We have already been doing this, and our numbers,” McGrane told the Sun, referring to noncitizen votes, “the fact that we’re at such a teeny, tiny fraction of a percent of instances, shows that Idaho has been doing it well — well in advance of this being part of the national discourse.”
GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump repeats false claims about droves of noncitizens voting
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, running again as the Republican presidential nominee, has repeatedly said noncitizens are being registered to vote, and falsely claimed that noncitizens swayed the 2016 election — which he won — and the 2020 election — which he lost, the Washington Post reported earlier this year.
This election cycle, Trump is continuing to make similar debunked claims.
But in a fact check of the September presidential debate, National Public Radio reported there is “no credible evidence” that noncitizens vote in federal elections, “or that there is an effort underway to illegally register undocumented immigrants to vote this election.”
In the Washington Post’s March 2024 review of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s database of election-fraud prosecution cases, 85 cases — from 2002 to 2023 — involved allegations of noncitizen voting.
“Every legitimate study ever done on the question shows that voting by noncitizens in state and federal elections is vanishingly rare,” the Brennan Center for Justice reported in April.
While a few local U.S. governments have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections (none of which are in Idaho), no states let noncitizens vote in statewide elections, the Sun previously reported.
U.S. citizenship is required to vote in federal and Idaho elections.
How Idaho bolstered noncitizen vote prevention processes, under recent executive order
In July, McGrane and Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order that shores up processes to prevent noncitizen voting. Idaho elections already have strong mechanisms in place to ensure noncitizens don’t vote, the Sun reported.
2024 Idaho election preview: Only citizens can vote. Why amend Idaho’s Constitution?
The order — distinct from a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban noncitizen voting in Idaho elections, where citizenship is already required — was aimed at bolstering voter confidence, McGrane previously told the Sun.
Already, The Secretary of State’s office works with the Idaho Department of Transportation to check voter records. But the executive order called for additional security by partnering with Idaho State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to check immigration records, among the order’s other provisions.
One of the big changes for the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office stemming from the executive order is securing an agreement to verify citizenship data with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s database, McGrane told the Sun.
In July, the Secretary of State’s Office pulled the entire list of Idaho’s over 1 million registered voters, and had the Idaho Department of Transportation do a full comparison.
The initial review flagged 700 potential noncitizens on voter rolls, McGrane told the Sun. But the number of probable noncitizens fell significantly once officials validated the citizenship of over 600 people flagged for potential noncitizenship, down to 36 “very likely” noncitizens who were Idaho registered voters, he said.
“Maybe they were a noncitizen at one point. But … by the time they were registering to vote, they were actually citizens. It just hadn’t been updated on their driver’s license records,” McGrane told the Sun.
And Tripple urged caution overinterpreting the higher potential noncitizen vote estimate. That list, from the Idaho Department of Transportation, flags people as potential noncitizens for many reasons like, for instance, registering for a driver’s license years ago — before the federal STAR Card Act asked for birth certificates.
The “overwhelming majority” proved to be “false positives” once further investigated, he said.
“Spending that time to go through that is — it’s time consuming. But we do it because we know that people want to have trust in the elections process,” Tripple said.
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The following is a news release from the Idaho Falls Symphony.
IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Falls Symphony, with support from Blue Cross of Idaho and Mountain View Hospital, invites audiences to experience Notes from the Silver Screen on Saturday, Oct. 19th at 7:30 p.m. in the Frontier Center for the Performing Arts in Idaho Falls.
“We have an incredible lineup of musical events planned for our 75th Sapphire Season,” remarks IFS Music Director, Dr. Thomas Heuser. “Music has always been central to the appeal of Blockbuster movies, and some of the greatest moments in film history have featured familiar works of Western classical music. Our concert will explore timeless film soundtracks and themes, alongside moments of classical music that movie-going audiences will never forget.”
Notes from the Silver Screen has been planned as a multimedia concert experience with visuals highlighting music from various films. Additionally, the Idaho Falls Symphony has partnered with the City of Idaho Falls on a photo competition commemorating the water tower. Photos by competition winners will be featured alongside some of the magical movie music.
One centerpiece of the concert is the Orchestral Suite from the 1938 classic, The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn. The score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold brims with excitement and features exciting brass and percussion. Other highlighted films include Indiana Jones, Oceans Eleven, The King’s Speech, and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
With generous support from Blue Cross of Idaho and Mountain View Hospital, this Symphony concert is billed as the “Pink Ribbon Concert” as part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Additional information and tickets are available online by visiting www.ifsymphony.org.
Tickets will also be available at the Frontier Center Box Office on the night of the performance. Starting one hour before the concert at 6:30 p.m., audiences are invited to join Maestro Heuser for Prologues, an informal pre-concert discussion about the evening’s musical selections that is free for all ticketed audiences.
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Idaho
Republican Rod Furniss running for District 31B seat against Democrat Wayne Talmadge – East Idaho News
SALMON — Incumbent Rep. Rod Furniss, a Republican, is running for the Legislative District 31B seat against Wayne Talmadge, a Democrat, in this year’s general election.
District 31 covers Jefferson, Lemhi, Clark, and Fremont counties.
Click here to learn more about Furniss’ campaign.
Talmadge does not have a website, but there is information about his campaign on Ballotpedia.
EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each candidate. Their responses, listed below, were required to be 250 words or less. EastIdahoNews.com is publishing the answers in their entirety, and without any grammatical or style editing.
Talmadge declined to answer the questionnaire.
The general election is Nov. 5.
Candidate Questions & Responses
Tell us about yourself — include information about your family, career, education, volunteer work, and any prior experience in public office.
Furniss: I am beginning my 7th year in the House. I am a 6th generation Idahoan as my family homesteaded a farm in Menan, Idaho. I served an LDS mission to Argentina. I married Jan Burtenshaw from Clark, Idaho and we have 5 children and 11 grandchildren. I love Idaho. I want my kids to live here, work here, educate their kids here and recreate here. I have worked with business owners my entire life and Idaho capitalism has proven to be the best driver for prosperity. We need to keep Idaho unregulated to promote enterprise. I have championed education bills by funding teachers’ salaries and health care. I believe in quality education and vocation for those that seek it. I graduated from Rigby High, BYU-I, and ISU. I worked for Idaho First National Bank for one year and have been in the insurance business since 1986. I have served in my church and the Boy Scouts in many capacities. I have been a precinct committee person and past president of the local education foundation. Past president of the Idaho Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Past President of the Idaho Falls Society of Financial Service Professionals. Past president of the Idaho Falls Estate Planning Council and qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table. I currently serve as vice-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, on the Business Committee, and on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee. I also served on the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee, Your Health Idaho Committee, High Risk Pool Committee, Chaired the Teacher Health Insurance Committee, and was on the Property Tax Committee.
Why are you seeking political office? Briefly explain your political platform.
Furniss: I am a Republican. 2nd amendment rights are very important to me as I grew up on a farm where hunting and shooting was nearly a daily occurrence. The sanctity of life and the belief that life begins at conception is an ideal that cannot be compromised. 1st amendment rights to speak my conscience without fear of retribution or harm may be the greatest God given right we have. Freedom of religion and to worship as I see fit without fear that the government will dictate to me who my God is or who I should pray to or even if I can pray is most important to me. The family is the backbone of this great nation, and that mothers and fathers should raise their children as they see fit. I believe that we can achieve peace through strength and that we need to honor and respect our military and police by funding them properly. I believe business should operate without burdensome regulations or red tape, capitalism will solve most problems if we get out of the way and let it work. I believe we need to secure our borders and enforce the immigration laws. As well as work with those that contribute to our economy and that are here legally. I believe we must balance our government budgets and remain out of debt in Idaho and on the federal level as well. God bless America and God bless Idaho.
What are the greatest challenges facing people and communities in your district? What is your plan to meet those challenges?
Furniss: Taxes, inflation, affordable housing, overcrowding of schools, and high interest rates affect the everyday households in Jefferson, Fremont, Clark, and Lemhi counties. Even though we have lowered Idaho income tax rates significantly inflation has eaten away at the spending power of families in Eastern Idaho. Wages have not kept pace with inflation even though they have risen substantially. Idaho sales tax has increased over the last 6 years I have served but again inflation has eaten away at its purchasing power. I have voted every time to reduce property tax with H381, H292, and H521. With these bills property tax has or will decrease over 20%. Interest rates have affected affordable housing and stopped young families from the American dream of owning a new home. School funding formulas and facility funding needs to be addressed with less burden on property taxes. We are seeing this change incrementally over the years. The Governor and the Idaho Legislature have done a great job at keeping Idaho a desirable place to raise a family and be educated. The federal government under the Biden Administration has done a terrible job. It could be fixed! Secure our border and provide meaningful work visas, open drilling permits and finish pipelines to reduce fuel prices, and vote in a Republican President, House, and Senate in Washington DC.
Have you seen any mistakes made by the Idaho Legislature in recent years? How would you work to correct these errors?
Furniss: 2021 HJR4 was a resolution by House members to keep marijuana out of Idaho and has been the biggest disappointment and mistake of the Idaho Legislature. It failed by 3 votes. Unfortunately, those 3 votes came from Eastern Idaho. Ron Nate, Chad Christensen, and Karey Hanks all voted against a constitutional change to limit schedule 1 drugs unless voted on by the Idaho Legislature. Many legislators including myself, drafted the resolution to be put on the ballot and voted on by the public to keep marijuana from our children. We worked tirelessly with leadership and members to obtain the votes and we were assured we had them till the vote failed. Drugs have become the scourge of our nation and Idaho stands alone in keeping marijuana out of Idaho so far. HJR4 would have solidified this effort. Many states are now regretting recreational marijuana as health concerns have arisen with more dui’s, work force problems and the tripling of teen suicide. This bill should come back.
What parts of the state budget could use more funding? Are there places in the budget where cuts could be made?
Furniss: I serve on JFAC, and we go over every agency budget and evaluate their base budgets as well as new requests for one time money and/or ongoing money. Agencies and the Governor do two separate budgets and then JFAC members can approve those budgets or make changes to those budgets. We meet as working groups and split the budgets into categories. This has been most productive as we are able to call the agency directors and ask specific questions to understand each request. A request may be for new cars, employees, desks and computers, software, additions to or maintenance on buildings, rent increases, janitorial contract increases, and many more items. The working groups can ask the tough questions like how many miles do the current vehicles have, how long have you had them, why do you need more employees, what is the contract for software, can we consolidate with other agencies, can we fix the current building or add on instead of building new? The working groups were able to find $35.9 million in savings in the Health and Welfare budgets this year. The goal for JFAC is to dig deep into the base budgets for 20% of the agencies over the next 5 years. By doing this we will see if appropriations that have been done years ago are still needed or obsolete. Many states are envious of how Idaho does budgets with both the Senate and House members agreeing before most of the legislature votes and are signed by the Governor.
What is your position on Idaho’s Proposition 1 ballot initiative that would end closed-party primary elections and create ranked-choice voting?
Furniss: I am a no vote on Proposition 1. Prop 1 is not the answer to our election problems. The answer is to have the GOP be more inclusive and inviting and less exclusive. We should be educating people on the planks and at the same time welcome all views in civil debate. There should be room in the GOP tent for those with views around the edges and in the middle. Rank Choice Voting is not an Idaho answer and is expensive and time consuming to administer. It will change how campaigning is done. If you don’t like me, put me down as #2 and #2 may win! #2 should never win. 4 candidates to the general election are too many and will further divide the party and extend the primary to November and increase costs. Party affiliation is important in the legislature when we are caucusing and making important decisions before a vote. Choose a party and vote in who you want, this has worked in Idaho.
What is your position on Gov. Brad Little using Idaho State Police resources to bolster security at the United States southern border? How does illegal immigration impact the constituents in your district?
Furniss: In Idaho we fund the police, not defund the police. We increased the allocation for Idaho State Police by 10%. More than any other budget. Also included in the budget were dollars for vests, guns, salaries, and cars. I am in favor of sending the ISP troopers to the border. They reported back insights to keep fentanyl out of Idaho and away from our children. Illegal immigration is a disaster under the Biden/Harris administration, and we have been a country without borders for the last 3 ½ years. Shame on them for canceling the wall and the policy to stay in Mexico to be processed that was working under the Trump administration. The H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers visa program to bring workers into our area is functioning even though it is cumbersome administratively and slow to react. Congress needs to streamline this program and deregulate the policies. Illegal immigration will hurt Idaho in the long run as more criminal elements move about the country. We are seeing that happen now as well.
A battle over the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer recharge led to a temporary water curtailment for thousands of acres of farmland in 2024. How should the the legislature respond to this issue?
Furniss: Water is the life blood of Idaho and careful thoughtful dialog has occurred for the most part to seek an agreement. The 2015 agreement must be reworked with new data and more area inclusion now in the equation. Kudos to those that have sat around the huge ring of tables and sacrificed time and family on behalf of Idaho. It truly has been a monumental event and much needed to keep the federal government from gaining rights to Idaho water. That would not be a friendly takeover. The Governor and Lt. Governor have circled the wagons and Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, Jeff Raybould, and Alan Hansten have taken many arrows but survived and thrived to a new agreement. One of the most important for the future of Idaho. If and when legislation is required, I am ready and willing.
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MERIDIAN, Idaho, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Idaho Virtual Academy (IDVA) has been recognized as a 2024 Cognia™ School of Distinction, a program which recognizes preK–12 education institutions that exemplify excellence in education and service to learners.
Cognia selected IDVA as one of the 60 Schools and Systems of Distinction out of more than 1,900 institutions that were reviewed worldwide. Idaho Virtual Academy is an accredited, full-time online public school, serving students in kindergarten through 12th grade across the state.
“This is a great honor and testament to Idaho Virtual Academy’s dedicated staff who are committed to excellence,” said Kelly Edginton, Executive Director at IDVA. “We proudly serve students who come from all backgrounds and enable them to pursue their passions. We are honored to be given this prestigious award.”
Idaho Virtual Academy participated in Cognia’s rigorous Accreditation Engagement Review process, which is based on research-based performance standards. The process includes a third-party review by education experts of evidence, interviews, and classroom observations. The evaluation seeks to prove evidence of growth in learning, a healthy culture for learning, engaging and high-quality instructional environments, and effective leadership for learning.
As an online public-school program, Idaho Virtual Academy is available tuition-free to students in grades K-12 in Idaho. Families and students choose online learning for a variety of reasons; it provides a safe learning environment and the opportunity for students to balance a full academic course load along with extracurricular pursuits.
More information on the school, it’s accreditation, how to enroll, and a schedule of upcoming events can be found at idva.k12.com.
About Cognia
Cognia is a global, nonprofit improvement organization dedicated to helping institutions and other education providers grow learners, teachers, and leaders. Cognia offers accreditation and certification, assessment, and improvement services within a framework of continuous improvement. Serving 40,000 public and private institutions from early learning through high school in 90 countries, Cognia brings a global perspective to advancing teaching and learning.
About Idaho Virtual Academy
Idaho Virtual Academy (IDVA) is an online public charter school serving students
statewide in kindergarten through 12th grade. As part of the Idaho public school
system, IDVA is tuition-free and provides families the choice to access the curriculum
and tools provided by K12, a Stride Company (NYSE: LRN). Learn more at
idva.k12.com.
Media Contact:
Cameron Bell | Public Relations Manager
cbell7@k12.com
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