BOISE, Idaho — The Ada County Elections Office and election offices around Idaho are preparing for local elections set to take place on Tuesday.
Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane and his election team are hard at work preparing for the day. 2021 is an "off-year" in the election cycle, meaning voters will see municipal races for city council, school boards and mayoral races.
In these elections, candidates are not listing political affiliation.
“Our partisan elections happen in the even years, so most people would think of the president, for example," McGrane said. "There really isn’t anything in terms of a non-partisan election. It’s just that there are other elections that have been determined to be partisan.”
Per state code, Idaho does not designate municipal elections as partisan. This means candidates do not need to go through political primary elections ahead of the general election in November.
Boise State political science expert Dr. Stephanie Witt said that move can be traced back to the Progressive Reformers Movement that ran from about the 1870s through the 1920s.
“I think the intent of having non-partisan elections was to ensure the most efficient and professionalized local governments that we could have," Witts said. "Perhaps it’s a question in people’s minds about whether we still need that today, but the intent was to try and get politics out of running cities and just run them the most efficient and best way possible.”
A non-partisan election does not prevent a candidate from telling voters how they are affiliated politically or prevent a political party from endorsing a candidate. However, a candidate's affiliation will not be indicated on the ballot.
“There are no restrictions. A candidate can present themselves in whatever light they feel is going to be best for their candidacy and their campaign," McGrane said. "Much like a candidate may say they are a Boise State fan, declaring themselves as a member of a political party could be a strategy they employ.”
Witt said this ideology is not new to area politics.
“I noticed it the most when Dave Bieter first ran for Mayor of Boise. A lot of the same volunteers and efforts you saw through the democratic party in Boise were helping him to get elected and he had previously held office in the state legislature as a Democrat," she explained. "So there was never really any ambiguity about his party affiliation.”
Regardless of the election year, McGrane said the elections office gets a similar question in each election cycle.
“We get the question of, why are these positions partisan?" McGrane said. "County coroner is a great example of one we always hear about. It’s really just the policies that the legislature has set for each of these respective elections.”
Join 'The 208' conversation:
- Text us at (208) 321-5614
- E-mail us at the208@ktvb.com
- Join our The 208 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/the208KTVB/
- Follow us on Twitter: @the208KTVB or tweet #the208 and #SoIdaho
- Follow us on Instagram: @the208KTVB
- Bookmark our landing page: /the-208
- And we also turn each episode into a podcast on Podbean
- Still reading this list? We're on YouTube, too: