Bill allowing a list of who died to become public record introduced

BOISE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Elections are once again a topic of discussion in Boise with this latest chapter being the introduction in the House State Affairs Committee of a bill aiming to increase voter registration transparency.

The bill, if passed by both chambers, would allow a list of who has died to become a non-exempt public record. This would allow the public to view and validate voter registration information.

Currently, this information is kept by the Department of Health and Welfare and the Secretary of State.

Public testimony about this bill highlighted potential privacy concerns.

“You hear these stories quite frequently, you know, people find the information of a deceased individual and use that to buy something, obtain credit somehow and we want to prevent that from happening,” said Blake Youde who spoke on behalf of the Idaho Association of County Recorders and Clerks.

Allegations of voter fraud via votes cast by deceased people spread following the 2020 presidential election.

Bill sponsor Priscilla Giddings cited an instance of a deceased voter in Latah County still on the voter roll as justification for this bill.

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