Ada County designates 132 polling places, expands ballot-on-demand for November election

Ada County commissioners on Sept. 23 approved a clerk’s office recommendation to designate 132 polling locations for the November election and heard details about expanded ballot-on-demand printing and public ballot-image posting.

The move matters because the consolidated election will use 189 active precincts and 353 distinct ballot styles, increasing the complexity of on-site ballot distribution, Director Salazar of the clerk’s office told the board.

"We do have a 132 polling locations for this. 53 of those will be, dual locations," Director Salazar said. He told the board the office had identified locations to maximize convenience and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Salazar said the county will staff typical single-precinct locations with a chief judge, an assistant chief judge and three poll workers; dual-precinct sites will have six staff. He told commissioners that chief and assistant chief judge roles are filled and poll-worker recruitment and training begin the week after the meeting.

On ballot printing, Salazar said the clerk’s office will operate ballot-on-demand equipment at more than half of precincts this fall and aims to run all precincts with ballot-on-demand by the May 2026 primary. "We are running in this election approximately a 110 precincts as ballot on demand, and we hope to have all 197 for May 2026," he said. The office also will retain preprinted paper ballots as a backup.

The clerk’s office described its post-election transparency tools: the county posts anonymized ballot images and the cast-vote record online so the public can see how machines read each ballot. Salazar told commissioners those images typically become available about two to three weeks after an election and are anonymous "unless you write your name on the ballot."

Commissioners approved the clerk’s motion to designate the polling places (pursuant to the item presented as code 34-302 on the agenda). The motion carried with the board saying "aye." The clerk said the full list of designated polling locations and related qualifications would be made available to the public.

County staff emphasized the operational work behind deploying the sites, including ADA compliance, ballot-verifier processes and training. The board and clerk urged continued community recruitment for poll workers and thanked staff for the deployment work.

A motion to designate polling places was moved and seconded and carried; the clerk confirmed the list would be available for public review.