13 precincts move polling locations

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BONNER COUNTY – Around Bonner County, 13 polling places are being merged with others in the county in the name of efficiency.

If you are living in an affected precinct, expect to receive notice in the mail. Notices will also be published on Bonner County Elections Facebook page and website.

Affected polling sites are around three different municipalities. For Sandpoint, they are the Airport, Baldy, Beach, Humbird, Washington, Wrenko, and Dover precincts. Those seven locations will be moved to the Bonner County Fairgrounds.

For the Clark Fork area: the Hope, Clark Fork, and Lakeview precincts will be collocated at the Clark Fork-Hope area senior center.

For the Priest River area: the Oldtown, Blue Lake, and Laclede precincts will move to the Priest River Event Center joining east and west Priest River polling.

Clorrisa Koster presented the action item before county commissioners on Tuesday, which was unanimously approved. Koster explained one reason behind the move is because previous polling locations “would like to get out of the business.”

One resident questioned the move, saying the dramatic change could make voting more difficult.

“Part of the reasons why precincts are set up in the first place is to have polling places close to the precinct itself so people don’t have to travel a long way to vote,” said Doug Patterson, a Bonner County resident. “This is really putting a dramatic change into that.”

The move isn’t expected to impact voting, Koster said.

“The anticipation is that, no, it won't take longer to vote,” she said. “We’re not just wanting to move people just to move people. There’s some thought process to try and make voting a little bit more efficient.”

Idaho Code prohibits changes to polling places within 30 days of the next election, which is scheduled for Nov. 2. The candidate filing deadline for anyone wishing to have their name appear on the ballot is on Sept. 3 at 5 p.m.