Recount confirms Elmore County winners after initial election count misses 373 votes
Seth Ratliff
ELMORE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — The final election results for Elmore County have been certified and will remain unchanged, even after an intensive hand recount introduced 373 ballots that were initially omitted from the election night tally.
Last week, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office confirmed a discrepancy of nearly between the number of physical ballots cast and the initial count. The Elmore County Clerk had discovered 373 votes were missing from the original tally, triggering a full hand count —with Secretary of State Phil McGrane, 17 staff members, the Elmore County Prosecuting Attorney, and the Elmore County Sheriff on site to ensure an independent review.
“I appreciate the level of detail and openness that went into today’s count,” said Elmore County Clerk Shelley Essl. “Through this process, we have ensured that every Elmore County ballot was counted and reported.”
Despite the mix-up, none of the race outcomes changed. Secretary of State McGrane says the recount was about making sure voters have confidence that their votes count.
“In order for our elections to work, voters must have confidence that their votes will count,” said Secretary of State McGrane. “Today we demonstrated our commitment to ensuring just that. I’m proud of my team and grateful to Elmore County for partnering with us as we’ve worked to correct this error and investigate what went wrong on election day.”
The Elmore County Board of Commissioners will review and certify the new results by tomorrow morning. Following this, the Secretary of State and the Elmore County Clerk will request a judicial review before December 2 in accordance with Idaho law.