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New legislation aims to prevent ballot harvesting fraud in Idaho

The bill would limit who can handle and deliver absentee ballots in Idaho elections, but critics of the bill say it goes too far.

BOISE, Idaho — New legislation from Republican Rep. Mike Moyle would look to limit who could handle and deliver an absentee ballot in Idaho. Moyle’s bill would only allow a family member to deliver up to two absentee ballots at a time, no third parties, like a friend, neighbor, or member of a political party could pick up ballots and take them in.

“Other than that, it needs to be a postal worker or someone who works for the clerk," Moyle said. "Someone who is qualified to have it and the bill has a list of who is qualified to have those ballots. We don’t want to see someone driving around in their car with 300 ballots in the back seat and nobody knows where they came from or how they got them. We want to stop that from happening.”

The bill is aimed at preventing ballot harvesting fraud, that’s when a person or group collects or intercepts absentee ballots and alters them. If passed, it would be a felony if someone is found violating the law. Supporters of the bill say a felony makes it clear how seriously Idaho is willing to take election violations like ballot harvesting.

“Absolutely and I think everyone supports that," Moyle said. "That’s what we are trying to do with this bill, make sure that your ballot and vote is counted, that legitimate votes are counted and that your vote is protected, and this bill accomplishes all of those.” 

Rep. Steve Berch, D-Boise, says the legislation goes too far for a problem that simply doesn’t exist in Idaho.

“I think that bill is an affront to every Idahoan," Berch said. "It attacks the heart of our democracy which is really making sure that every legal vote is counted. It’s a solution in search of a problem. We do not have voter fraud in Idaho of any measurable degree.”

Supporters of the bill point to a 2018 situation in North Carolina where a confirmed case of ballot harvesting ended up jeopardizing a congressional race.

“The best time to fix a problem is before you have a problem, and this will keep us from having a problem in the future,” Moyle said.

READ ALSO: Idaho lawmakers seek oversight of local monuments, place names

Critics of the bill say the idea puts too many limits on Idahoans who are trying to help make sure all absentee ballots make it back to the county clerk.

“Under this bill you will be convicted of a felony if you just want to help your ailing neighbor by helping to deliver their ballot,” Berch said.

Moyle says absentee voters have plenty of time and options to get their ballot back in a timely manner and hypothetical situations can be solved within the proposed law.

“Most of those concerns quite frankly are addressed in the bill," Moyle said. "You can still have a family member take care of it, a postal worker can take care of it, the clerk can take care of it. You still have all those other options. No, I just think these are just red herrings and people are looking for an excuse to keep it the way it is in Idaho, and that also leads me to believe that maybe there is a little bit of ballot harvesting going on.”

There are no documented cases of mass ballot harvesting in Idaho and Moyle notes that in the bill’s fiscal note saying, “Since Idaho does not currently have significant problems with ballot harvesting, it is not expected that this legislation would result in any additional convictions, or costs associated with such.”

Berch argues that if there was an issue there are already checks in place to catch it, all absentee ballots are verified by individual signature checks.

“There absolutely are and they are very rigorous processes, which is why we don’t have a history of voter fraud in Idaho when it comes to absentee voting or quite frankly any form of voting,” Berch said.

Moyle says this bill is not to say the 2020 election in Idaho was impacted by fraud, he says Idaho did a great job. This is designed to protect Idaho voters in the future.

“Let’s make sure we don’t have the problems that other states had in the past so in the future Idaho can clean up some of these things that cause concerns in other states, so we don’t have to address what they are addressing now,” Moyle said.

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