by Logan Finney, Idaho Reports
The Idaho Senate approved Senate Bill 1273 on Monday, signaling its support once again for a detailed voter guide that would be mailed out to each Idaho household ahead of an election.
This is the second year that Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane has encouraged lawmakers to assign his office the creation of a voter guide with information about the candidates appearing on the ballot.
“We already produce a voter pamphlet for constitutional amendments and initiatives,” McGrane told Idaho Reports in January. “This would be additional pages to add candidate information. So, legislative candidates, county candidates. We would also do state candidates and federal candidates.”
A similar bill last year did not advance through the House after its passage in the Senate.
While last year’s voter guide legislation included a fiscal impact, McGrane’s office has worked to find a printer that will be cost-neutral relative to the pamphlet that is currently produced every other year.
“I think we can do this at a reasonable cost, and I really appreciate the Secretary of State finding a lower cost for this,” SB 1273 sponsor Sen. Lori Den Hartog said.
“I’ve done a lot of door-knocking in my time campaigning, and this is one of the top things that I get asked about in my district. My district has changed a lot over the years,” said Den Hartog, R-Meridian. “Many of you know that you have folks moving into your area. What we call a county commission is maybe not what they were used to in their prior state, so it really is an information piece.”
The bill passed the Senate in a 22-13 vote. It must also pass the House and the governor’s desk before becoming law.
“One of the things I’ve heard many years is our voters aren’t informed,” said Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise. “What can we do to help them be informed? I think a voter guide does that.”
SB 1273 – PASSED – 22-13-0
AYES – Adams, Bernt, Burtenshaw, Cook, Den Hartog, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Wright Hartgen, Just, Lee, Lent, Rabe, Ricks, Ruchti, Schroeder, Semmelroth, Taylor, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Winder, Wintrow
NAYS – Anthon, Bjerke, Carlson (Forsmann), Foreman, Hart, Herndon, Lakey, Lenney, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Toews, Trakel, Zuiderveld
Logan Finney | Producer
Logan Finney is a North Idaho native with a passion for media production and boring government meetings. He grew up skiing, hunting and hiking in the mountains of Bonner County and has maintained a lifelong interest in the state’s geography, history and politics. Logan joined the Idaho Reports team in 2020 as a legislative session intern and stayed to cover the COVID-19 pandemic. He was hired as an associate producer in 2021 and they haven’t been able to get rid of him since.