Idaho Secretary of State Post-Election Audit Continues

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Download the Press Release PDF

Date: May 27, 2022
Contact: Chad Houck, Chief Deputy Secretary of State
Phone: (208) 334-2852

Boise, Idaho — Staff from the office of Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney continued with day three of their 2022 Idaho Primary Post-Election Audit today, with teams reviewing Kootenai, Bannock, and Jerome Counties. Early preliminary reports through lunch were consistent with the findings in the previous two days, and at this point it is anticipated that audit teams will complete their in-county work by close of business today in their respective locations.

Yesterday’s outcomes were as follows:

Day 2 – 4,770 ballots – 4 variations – 3 resolved, 1 unresolved but attributable
– Thus far – 13,088 – 14 variations – 1 unattributed, 1 addl unresolved

Jerome County

  • ALL precincts reviewed – about 2,574 ballots*
  • All absentees (452) by precinct were included in the absentee precinct, included in the above (no add’l ballots*)
  • Total of ballots* to be inspected – no less than 2,574
  • Race Reviewed: Secretary of State (McGrane/Moon/Souza)
  • Of all ballots reviewed, preliminary findings showed 3 variations from the canvassed counts at the precinct level (+2, -1). Secondary review attributed two ballots (+2) to light marks tabulators would have counted as undervotes. Final variation (-1) was explained by communication with the Chief Judge in the precinct involved, and was an accessible ballot that was not retrieved.
  • Net count difference: -1       Margin of Error – approximately 0.038%
  • Secondary observations regarding processes to be included in a follow-up report

Bonneville County

  • 6 precincts reviewed – about 2,196 ballots*
  • All absentees by precinct were counted by the precinct in which they were issued. (no add’l ballots*)
  • Total of ballots* to be inspected – no less than 2,196
  • Race Reviewed: Secretary of State (McGrane/Moon/Souza)
  • Of all ballots reviewed, preliminary findings showed 1 variation from the canvassed counts at the precinct level (+1). Secondary review attributed that ballot to an overvote in a machine tabulated precinct, so the voter would have been given the opportunity to spoil that ballot. As such it was correctly not counted on election day.
  • Net count difference: 0       Margin of Error – 0.00%
  • Secondary observations regarding processes to be included in a follow-up report

(*ballot count numbers below are based on number of gubernatorial votes cast in the republican primary. Actual ballots reviewed were higher due to overvotes and undervotes)

A secondary report detailing further findings, lessons learned, and recommendations of best practices will be drafted following Day 3, with an additional final report to be issued following staff and county review of the preliminary and secondary findings.

Details of Day 3 will be released as soon as they are fully compiled.

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ABOUT LAWERENCE DENNEY

Lawerence Denney has served the people of Idaho since 1990. His public service began as a representative in District 13 and, following redistricting, then became a representative in District 9 until 2014. During this time, Denney served two terms as Majority Leader and three terms as Speaker of the House before successfully running for state office as Idaho’s Secretary of State. He is currently in his second term as Secretary of State.

System Upgrade In Progress

Campaign Finance, Lobbyist Reporting, and Online Voter Tools are expected to be offline from April 9th at 5:00 p.m. MDT, through April 12th at 8:00 a.m. MDT to complete a system upgrade.

Per Idaho Code 67-6607, campaign finance is reported monthly during a campaign’s election year. The deadline for the March report falls on Saturday, April 10th. Due to the interruption caused by this upgrade, political treasurers will be allowed to file the March report until 11:59 p.m. MDT on Monday, April 12th.

While we do our best to ensure compliance with all deadlines in statute, the timing of this release is critical to ensure minimal (or no) impact to the May election cycle. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.