Today is the deadline to request an absentee ballot for Idaho’s primary election 

Today, May 6, is the final day to request an absentee ballot for Idaho’s May 17 primary elections. 

Idaho registered voters can use the Secretary of State’s Office’s official voting website, www.voteidaho.gov to request their absentee ballots for free. 

Once voters receive an absentee ballot in the mail, they will need to act quickly and return their completed ballots. By law, all absentee ballots must be received by the local elections office or county clerk’s office by the time polls close at 8 p.m. local time on the day of the primary election, which is May 17. It is not enough to mail absentee ballots back on the day of the election or even have them postmarked prior to the election. The ballots must be received by the time polls close in order to count. 

The deadline to register to vote online ahead of the primary election has passed, and unregistered voters may not request an absentee ballot. 

However, if voters miss today’s deadline to request an absentee ballot, they still have two options to cast a vote in the primaries. 

Early voting is available through May 13, and there are several locations in Ada and Canyon counties offering early voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. next week. 

Or, Idahoans may vote in-person at their polling place on the day of the primary election May 17, when polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. 

Idahoans can check www.voteidaho.gov to learn the location of their polling place and find out whether they are registered to vote. Due to the 2021 redistricting process, many Idaho voters will have a new polling place or live in a different legislative district this year. 

To vote in the closed Republican primary election, voters must be affiliated with the Republican Party. Unaffiliated voters may affiliate with the political party of their choice on or before the day of the election by declaring their party affiliation to the poll worker. Unregistered voters may also affiliate with a party of their choice by filing a signed form when they register to vote during early voting or when they register to vote at the polls on the day of the election. 

The Democratic primary is open to any voter who would like a ballot, regardless of party affiliation.