BOISE, Idaho — Editor's Note: The video above is a brief Q&A segment from Tuesday's virtual town hall, with officials explaining the absentee ballot process. Watch the full town hall below.
With the 2020 presidential election just six weeks away, we want to make sure Idahoans' questions are answered.
On Tuesday, KTVB hosted a virtual town hall event with a panel of election experts. We've timed this event with National Voter Registration Day. (Need to check your registration status in Idaho? We have resources here.)
KTVB's Joe Parris and Brian Holmes chatted with Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane, and Twin Falls County Clerk Kristina Glascock.
In the virtual town hall, the panel discussed election and ballot security, registering to vote and when absentee ballots will be mailed out.
Watch Below:
Denney and McGrane spoke at length about they are planning on keeping the election safe, from a public health and a security perspective, and making sure that results are delivered in a timely manner.
McGrane explained that Ada County and Twin Falls County will begin processing ballots as soon as they can but still face one major hurdle.
"We will be, as Christina mentioned, scanning the ballots in advance for the absentees so that we don't have the delays. I expect around the country we will see some significant delays in states that didn't address their rules like Idaho did," he said.
He added that one of this election's challenges is that they'll "get a flood of absentee ballots coming back on Election Day, whether that's the drop boxes or picking them up at the Postal Service at 8 p.m. when the polls close."
So far, according to Denney, there have been 333,000 absentee ballots requested so far, which is about three times the normal rate. He also explained that he expects at least 58% of Idaho voters to vote by absentee and thinks it'll likely be higher than that.
McGrane also said he thinks this general election will feel a lot like previous presidential elections, with results coming in by Wednesday morning.
Absentee ballots will be mailed out beginning on Oct. 5. The pre-register deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 9 and the final deadline to request a ballot is Oct. 23. Early voting is also open from Oct. 13 to Oct. 30.
You can find everything you need to know about the November election in Idaho in our comprehensive Voter Guide.