Kootenai County board accepts canvas of May 20 consolidated election; officials cite high turnout and write‑in workload

Kootenai County Board of Canvassers Chair Metari and Commissioners Eberlein and Duncan voted unanimously May 29 to accept the canvas for the May 20, 2025 consolidated election.

County Clerk Jennifer Locke told the board the county ran a secure election, tested its tabulators as required by state law and posted unofficial results to the state and county websites after completing a manual review of write‑in ballots.

Locke said the county counted 24,076 ballots in the consolidated election and reported a voter turnout of 21.8%. “We had the highest ballots cast in the whole state,” Locke said, and she thanked more than 397 poll workers and election staff for their work. She described repeated logic and accuracy testing of the tabulators — including DS850 central‑count machines and a DS300 precinct counter used for early voting — before, during and after May 20 to verify correct counting.

The canvas report filed with the board and posted online showed staggered unofficial result postings the night of May 20: an initial posting at about 8:18 p.m. with early‑voting and some absentee results, a second posting at about 8:45 p.m. with remaining absentee results, and subsequent precinct postings through 11:20 p.m.; the county posted a consolidated unofficial PDF including write‑ins around 1:30 a.m. on May 21. Locke said that, of the ballots that machines flagged as having write‑in names, staff reviewed 5,661 write‑in entries to determine eligibility and assignment.

Locke told the board that of those write‑in entries, 5,426 were for an eligible write‑in candidate, Terry Seymour, in the Kootenai Hospital District trustee contest; 235 write‑ins were for names the county determined to be ineligible and therefore unassigned. In the Green Ferry Water and Sewer District director seat 3 contest, staff reviewed 31 write‑in ballots and assigned 23 to a write‑in candidate identified as Netzel and five to Utz; three were ineligible and left unassigned. Locke noted that Idaho requires write‑in candidates to file paperwork to be eligible.

Elections staff also reported absentee signature verification outcomes: 31 absentee ballots were marked not valid after signature checks — 18 arrived after election day, two were missing signatures, and 11 had signatures that did not match and were not cured before 8 p.m. on election day. Early voting produced 1,748 ballots counted on the DS300; absentee ballots counted by tabulator totaled 4,375. The county reported a small number of ballot‑issuance or polling discrepancies across precincts (for example, a voter receiving the wrong ballot style or an extra ballot handed out), and staff said none of those differences affected the outcome of any contests.

The board recorded a motion to accept the canvas “for the 05/20/2025 consolidated elections pursuant to Idaho code 34 2 1 2 0 5.” The motion was seconded by Commissioner Eberlein; Commissioners Eberlein, Duncan and Chair Metari each voted “aye,” and the motion carried.

Locke and staff highlighted several close contests in the canvas packet: the East Side Highway District Subdistrict 2 race was reported as the closest contest, with an eight‑vote margin (Booth 780, Vater 772) and 227 undervotes. Locke also noted geographic turnout differences tied to local ballot questions — turnout was relatively high in precincts with a Lakeland School District levy on the ballot and lower in many Coeur d'Alene precincts.

After the board accepted the canvas, there were no public comments recorded and the meeting adjourned at about 10:21 a.m.