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West Bonner levy fails
By Sophia Aldous
Of The Miner
PRIEST RIVER – West Bonner County School District is facing another levy failure after preliminary election results Wednesday morning show 52.49% (4,332) of WBCSD residents voting against the measure and 47.51% (3,921) voting for it. The school district was attempting to pass the two year $1,130,000 per year supplemental levy after the one the district ran in May failed.
Trump takes Bonner County
Preliminary results in Bonner County show Republican Donald Trump led with 9,996 or 65.69% of votes cast, while Democrat Kamala Harris trailed with 4,918 or 32.32% of votes cast. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had 168 votes, Libertarian Chase Oliver had 52 votes, independent candidate Jill Stein had 33 votes, Constitution candidate Joel Skousen had 18 votes, independent candidate Randall Terry had eight votes, independent candidate Shiva Ayuyadurai had six votes, and independent candidate Claudia de la Cruz had eight votes. There were 10 ballots cast for write-in candidates.
Domke, Korn win commissioner seats
Bonner County’s District 1 commissioner race showed Republican Brian Domke receiving 9,463 votes or 63.81%, with Democrat Steve Johnson trailing with 36.19% or 5,367 votes.
In the District 3 commissioner race, Ron Korn received 9,161 votes or 64.05% of the vote, leading Glenn Lefebvre who received 5,141 votes or 35.95% in preliminary results.
For Bonner County Sheriff, Republican Daryl Wheeler ran uncontested, receiving 10,997 votes or 100% of the preliminary votes. There were no unassigned ballots cast for write-in candidates by the print deadline.
Republican Dennis Engelhardt ran unopposed for county assessor, receiving 100% of the preliminary vote or 11,093 votes. There were no unassigned ballots cast for write-in candidates by the print deadline.
Republican Louis Marshall ran uncontested for county prosecutor with 10,969 votes, or 100% of the preliminary results. There were no unassigned ballots cast for write-in candidates by the print deadline.
Magistrate Tera A. Harden received 9,986 or 84.86% of preliminary votes in favor of her retaining her district one judge’s seat. There were 1,781 voters, or 15.14%, who voted against Harden retaining her seat.
Woodward receives majority votes
For state Senate Legislative District 1, initial voting showed Republican Jim Woodward leading with 10,226 votes or 77.12%, while independent candidate Daniel “Dan” Rose received 22.88% or 3,033 votes.
In the Idaho House of Representatives 1A race, Republican incumbent Mark Sauter was ahead in initial voting with 9,706 votes or 71.14%, Democrat Karen Matthee trailed with 3,938 votes or 28.86%.
In the 1B race, Republican Cornel Rasor received 63.96%, or 8,872, of votes cast, leading Democratic challenger Kathryn Larson who had 4,999 votes or 36.04%.
For the Idaho District 1 U.S. congressional race, Republican incumbent Russ Fulcher received 195,032 votes or 71.9% district wide and 9,770 votes or 62.80% in Bonner County. Democrat challenger Kaylee Peterson followed with 24.5% or 66,581 votes district wide and 4,695 votes or 31.62% in Bonner County, Libertarian Matt Loesby received 2% or 5,374 votes district wide and 1.5% or 222 votes in Bonner County, and Brendan J. Gomez with the Constitution party had 1.6% or 4,302 votes district wide with 1.08% or 160 votes in Bonner County.
No passage for Prop. 1
Preliminary results show that Proposition 1, the ballot measure that would require open primaries and ranked choice voting in general elections, failed to pass at the state and local level. Statewide 69.8% or 606,087 voters opposed the measure while 30.2% or 261,649 people supported it. In Bonner County 72.33%, or 20,970 voters voted down Prop. 1 while 27.67% or 8,022 people voted in favor of it.
The measure was put forward by Reclaim Idaho and Idahoans for Open Primaries and opposed by the Idaho Republican party.
Constitutional amendment passes
A proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution to ban noncitizens from voting in Idaho elections passed, with results from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office showing 64.9% of Idaho voters (565,295 votes) supported the amendment. There were 35.1% of voters (305,153 votes) opposing it.
Local preliminary election results show 71.41% (20,970) of Bonner County voters approved the amendment while 28.59% (8,022) did not.
Similar to ballot measures in seven other states, Idaho’s amendment, which was proposed by the Idaho Legislature, comes as several other local governments across the U.S. have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections, and after years of election security fears fanned partly by false claims about large numbers of noncitizens voting in federal elections.
Idaho elections certified later this month
According to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office, election results do not become official in Idaho until after they are certified by the State Board of Canvassers. After the election, county election officials double check information like the number of people who voted and the number of ballots cast to make sure every ballot was counted. Election officials also conduct an audit of ballots from randomly selected counties.
The State Board of Canvassers will meet Tuesday, Nov. 26 to officially certify Idaho’s 2024 general election results.
