BOISE, Idaho — In two weeks, Idahoans will hit the polls to vote in the November general election. Voters are not the only ones gearing up for the polls, as some candidates are working to recruit poll watchers.
“Traditionally, a poll watcher in Idaho has been nonexistent until a couple of years ago,” Chief Deputy Clerk at the Ada County Clerk’s Office, Trent Tripple said.
Tripple explains the role of poll watchers in Idaho:
“They work for the candidate or the party and they report back to them any inconsistencies or anything that may cause alarm for them,” Tripple said.
From there, a candidate or party can bring information to election officials, to investigate anything a poll watcher thinks may be an issue. However, poll watchers need to stay out of the way.
“The statutes clearly say that they're not to disrupt the conduct of the election,” Chief Deputy Secretary of State, Chad Houck said.
Houck said poll watchers need to stay out of the way.
“If the behavior in any way is being disruptive to a voter or being intimidating to a voter or making a voter uncomfortable, that voter can just go to any of the election judges in the space, the folks there from their county working that polling location, and just let them know that there's that there is an issue that they have with a particular activity,” Houck said.
People are unable to simply show up on election day to be a poll watcher. It is a coordinated position that, again, is authorized by a political party or candidate for office.
“They do have to submit that request in writing to the county clerk in advance, detailing what precincts specifically, what individuals specifically and largely, that's because of that administrative component that goes into making those name tags, knowing who those individuals are going to be when they're assigned into those locations, so that they can have all that information and documentation on site at the polling location for election day,” Houck said.
Poll watchers do not have special conduct rules that allow them to interact with protected election day privacy for voters. They must stay out of the way of the election process and do what is in their position title; just watch.
“We have the ability, as county clerks and people who are running the elections, to ask them to leave if they're disrupting the normal flow of an election," Tripple said. "They can ask questions and we'll answer them as time allows, but our job administering the elections is to make sure that people have access to the ballot."
A storyline with poll watchers nationwide is voter intimidation. Some worry the position will be used to influence behavior at a polling location. A question some ask on the topic is, 'can poll watchers carry a gun on election day at the polling location?'
“The real question is, what is your polling location? Because in many cases, if polling locations are in schools, that school is still a school, and that is one of the places where constitutional carry is restricted under Idaho law, insofar as is it illegal to have a weapon at a polling location,” Houck said. “It's not illegal for a poll watcher or a voter, unless there's some other restriction outside of voting that would cause that particular location to be.”
There are concerns about poll watchers from some in the community, but Tripple points out the genuine function of the role, an important one.
“We will have watchers and they have the right to be there. They have the right to observe the elections," Tripple said. "We want people to have trust in the elections process, and this is part of it. If people don't feel like we're administering the elections properly, then they can't have faith in the people that are getting elected."
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