Electioneering distance near polls extended to 250 feet

Electioneering at the polls is no longer allowed within 250 feet.

The May 21 primary will see some changes in electioneering on Election Day since a new bill has increased the distance from 100 feet to 250 feet within a polling place or any building where an election is being held. 

Senate Bill 1244 went into effect March 26, 2024, and will be in place for every election in Idaho. The bill reads that this additional distance has been put in place to “protect the freedom of voters to exercise their franchise without interference or intimidation.” Additionally, it is to ensure the administration of an election at any polling place is undisturbed. 

The Boundary County Courthouse is also one of the locations where electioneering cannot take place within 250 feet on Election Day. 

The law prohibits any electioneering, circulation of cards, soliciting signatures of any kind of petition, advocating for or against candidates, soliciting votes in any manner, giving or offering to give money or gifts, or engaging in any practice that interferes with the freedom of voters to exercise their franchise or disrupts the administration of the polling place. 

Obstructing the doors or entrances to the polling place or the building it is located in is not allowed. Any election or law enforcement officer can arrest any person determined to be in violation, and an offender may be subject to a fine ranging from $25 to $1,000. 

Senator Scott Herndon, District 1, voted against the bill. In the House of Representatives, Mark Sauter, District 1A, sponsored the bill, and Sage Dixon, District 1B, also supported the bill. 

Bonner County  voting locations are as follows:

• Airport — Bonner County Extension Office, 4205 N. Boyer Road, Sandpoint

• Algoma — Sagle Fire Station, 2689 Gun Club Road, Sagle

• Baldy — VFW Post 2453, 1325 Pine St., Sandpoint

• Beach — First Lutheran Church, 526 Olive Ave., Sandpoint

• Blue Lake — Blue Lake Community Hall, 9518 Eastside Road, Priest River

• Careywood — Careywood Fire Station, 456055 U.S. 95, Careywood

• Clagsone — Edgemere Grange Hall, 3273 Bandy Road, Priest River

• Clark Fork — Clark Fork, Hope Area Senior Center, 1001 Cedar St., Clark Fork

• Colburn — Northside Fire Station No. 4, 64 Samuels Road

• Dover — Dover City Hall, 699 Lakeshore Ave., Dover

• East Priest River — Priest River Event Center, 5399 U.S. 2, Priest River

• Edgemere — Edgemere Grange Hall, 3273 Bandy Road, Priest River

• Gamlin Lake — Garfield Bay Sewer District Office, 1585 Garfield Bay Cutoff Road, Sagle

• Grouse Creek — Northside Christian Fellowship DS, 4400 Colburn Culver Road, Sandpoint

• Hope — Memorial Community Center, 415 Wellington Place, Hope

• Humbird — Sandpoint United Methodist Church, 711 Main St.

• Kootenai — Cedar Hills Church, 227 McGhee Road

• Laclede — Laclede Community Hall, 24 Moore Loop, Laclede

• Lamb Creek — Priest Lake Elementary School, 27732 Highway 57, Priest Lake

• Oden — Oden Community Hall, 143 Sunnyside Road

• Oldtown — Oldtown Rotary Park Visitor Center, 68 Old Diamond Mill Road, Oldtown

• Priest Lake — Coolin Civic Organization, 5361 Dickensheet Road, Coolin

• Sagle — Sagle Senior Center, 650 Monarch Road, Sagle

• Selle — Northside Christian Fellowship, 4400 Colburn Culver Road

• Southside — LDS Westmond Ward, 331 Westmond Road

• Spirit Valley — Blanchard Grange, 549 Rusho Lane, Blanchard

• Washington — First Lutheran Church, 526 Olive Ave.

• Westmond — Cocolalla Bible Camp, 209 Cocolalla Loop Road, Cocolalla

• West Priest River — Priest River Event Center, 5399 U.S. 2, Priest River

• Wrenco — Westside Fire Station, 15 Helen Thompson Road

• Early voting — Bonner County Administration Building, 1500 U.S. 2, Suite 124