Concerns of voter fraud, and need for more safeguards, still circling Idaho

Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The concern over voter fraud is still circling around Idaho, and Twin Falls. In the past week many proposals and suggestions have been by individuals, related to safe and secure elections.

This week at the Idaho Republican Party Convention in Twin Falls delegates from around Idaho discussed and approved a slew of resolutions related to election integrity. One them was a voter identification resolution sponsored by the newly elected IDGOP chair Dorothy Moon. The resolution urges the state legislature to enact legislation that prohibits non-governmental IDs , and mandates voters should have to present a valid photo ID and proof of citizenship to cast a ballot in any election.

“People use things like Costco ID, student IDs, which they can use, but student IDs do not have residency. They don’t have a birth date, so they may not be the legal age to vote,” Moon said.

Also this past week Election Integrity Idaho visited with the Twin Falls County Commissioners with concerns about election transparency, the training of poll workers, and ballot boxes.

“2000 Mules has shown fraud across the country in every state . It was more prominent in the states Georgia, Wisconsin , and Pennsylvania. Those were the ones the gear more to in that movie, but is has been shown through there research every state has had it.” said Election Integrity Idaho member Bob Beauregard.

However, Twin Falls County Clerk Kristina Glascock said she thinks some of the concerns over voter fraud is more smoke than fire.

“People are getting their information from the wrong source, and they tend to feed off of that misinformation and believe it. They think it is the truth,” Glascock said.

She add there was what seem like 80 bills related to election integrity this pass legislative session, including ones related to voting identification, same day registration, and ballot boxes.

“A lot for them were bills brought forward by individuals who truly don’t understand how elections are administered in Idaho and how we do things,” Glascock said.

Additionally, the Idaho Secretary of State’s office found almost zero voting irregularities in eight counties during a post election audit this past May.

“Ada County was one of the ones selected and the result came spot on. They were exactly the same,” Glascock said,

Democratic House Minority leader Ilana Rubel says she is concerned that this next legislation bills may end up like last session, with concerns over voter fraud still circling around Idaho.

“Voting overhauls that Representative[Dorothy] Moon had brought in the legislature were what I thought were quite extreme. They would of had the effect of disenfranchising ten of thousand of voters,” Rubel said.

Additionally, Glascock is worried that the paranoia of voter fraud might lead to fewer poll workers wanting to volunteer their time during the next election cycle.

“Maybe intimidated, or maybe there is the potential that they may not be able to carry out how they were trained. It does add another level of anxiety and stress to them(poll workers),” Glascock said.

However Twin Falls County Commissioner Don Hall said maybe there is a middle ground in all of this, because he did have some concerns about what happened on a national level.

“My experience in the system and watching the system I think we have a really good system in Idaho. It doesn’t mean that there can’t be some improvements,” Hall said. He added many of the changes would have to happen at the state level, and are not able to be changed at the county level.

In conclusion, Glascock said in her 19 years as a Twin Falls County Clerk she has only seen one person prosecuted for voter fraud.