Officials have discovered that thousands of ballots were left out of reported election results in two Idaho counties during post-election reviews.
More than 2,600 ballots were either omitted from reported results or went uncounted on election night in two Idaho counties following last week’s midterm elections, prompting a full recount in one county.
Latah County in North Idaho began a full recount Tuesday after local officials discovered that votes from 2,342 ballots had not been included in publicly reported results.
The ballots, representing a portion of early voting, had been tabulated by election machines but were not included in the county’s publicly reported results. The discrepancy was discovered during the county’s review ahead of its official canvas.
Laura Heinse, a Democratic candidate for county commissioner, separately filed a formal complaint asking the Secretary of State’s Office to require a full recount of her race. She argued that the omission raised questions about election-night reconciliation and whether other reporting discrepancies existed.
“This is a significant discrepancy in results, and we are taking it very seriously,” Secretary of State Phil McGrane said in a statement on Monday. “Every Idahoan needs to have confidence that their vote counted, and we’re 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.”
Newsweek reached out to McGrane via email for comment.
An early review by the Secretary of State’s Office indicated that the omitted votes would not change the winner of any race. However, the size of the discrepancy drew particular concern because several contests were relatively close, including races for three state legislative seats, two county commission seats, county clerk and county treasurer.
