Voter Information FAQ

You can save time and register to vote before election day online at the Secretary of State’s website. You can also register at your polling location when you go to cast your ballot. If your address has changed since the last election, take the time to update your voter registration.

In order to vote in the next election, you must meet all of the requirements below. Please keep in mind, Idahoans can register to vote in advance of the election or when they show up to vote at the polls.

• You must be 18 by Election Day
• You must be a U.S. citizen
• You must have lived in Ada County for 30 days prior to Election Day
• Provide valid photo identification
• You must provide either a state ID number or the last four digits of your social security number
• You must provide proof of residency (vehicle registration, current utility bill, bank statement, etc.)
• Felons may not register until they have completed the terms of their sentence

Yes! You can register to vote on Election Day at your polling location. You will need to bring a valid photo I.D. and proof of residency.

When you register to vote, you have the option to affiliate with a political party. However, voters may change or declare their party affiliation by completing a form and mailing it to our office or emailing to [email protected].

After you’ve completed all of the terms of your sentence, you will be allowed to vote in the next election.

You can easily update your address with the Secretary of State’s office online. Click here to get started with updating your address

The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office allows you to check your voter registration status on its website. If you want to confirm your information is correct.

We have an entire page dedicated to answering this question. Visit our Early Voting page to get easy step by step instructions.

If you would like to vote by mail, please give our office seven to 10 days to process your request plus a few additional days for your ballot to be mailed back to you.

Ada County has worked hard to make voting accessible for everyone – even if you are out of town on Election Day. You may choose to vote prior to the election at one of our early voting polling places or vote by mail. Please visit our Early Voting page to learn more about the options available to you.

You may contact our office at (208) 287-6860 to check the status of your absentee ballot.

If you are voting by mail and you make a mistake on your ballot, please call us at (208) 287-6860 and we will help you determine what to do next.

Early voting typically starts 15 to 22-days prior to the election. Visit our early voting page for current information.

Early voting will be available as we get closer to the Election. For details visit Early Voting.

If you will not be in town on Election Day, you can still cast your ballot if you choose to vote early or vote by mail. You can visit this page to learn more details.

The next election is Tuesday, December 5, 2023. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Visit our helpful tool and enter your address to find your exact polling location. 

There are 197 precincts in Ada County. The number of polling places varies for each election. Find your polling location here. 

Yes! Ada County is committed to making voting accessible for everyone. All of our polling places are equipped with a voter assistance terminal to make it easier for voters who have difficulties seeing or marking their ballot. If you need extra help, poll workers can assist you or you can bring someone you trust along with you when you vote. You can learn more about our accommodations by visiting the Voters with Disabilities page.

To determine what precinct you are in, visit our Polling Place Locator tool. Type in your address and hit search. Once your address pops up, click on it to see the address of your polling place and precinct number.

If you have recently tested positive for COVID-19, please contact our office at (208) 287-6860 for guidance on voting.

While we encourage everyone to complete their entire ballot, you may choose to only vote for the candidate or issues you care about and leave other sections of your ballot blank.

We’ve created a tool that allows you to see exactly what will be on your ballot. The View My Ballot page provides information on what candidates and issues you will get to vote on in the upcoming election.

If you would like to learn more about what will be on the ballot in an upcoming election, we recommend checking with your favorite local media source. Many local media outlets produce voter guides to help you become a more informed voter.

Primary elections help narrow down a field of candidates for a particular political party and determine who should ultimately represent the party in the general election. Starting in 2011, you must be associated with the political party in whose primary you are voting. However, political parties have the ability to open their primaries to unaffiliated voters or voters registered with another party if they notify the Secretary of State’s office ahead of the election. To learn more about voting in a primary, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

Once the polls close state-wide on Election Day and we start to count the ballots, unofficial results are posted live on our website. Here is the link to see results as they come in.

Yes, Ada County received a grant of $489,963 from the non-profit Center for Tech & Civic Life for the November 2020 General Election. The funds were used to help with the extraordinary costs of conducting the 2020 General Election, including maintaining full operations for in-person early voting, Election Day voting and the increase in absentee voting. See the full break-down of how the funds were used:

Temporary Election Worker Staffing

• $115,319.63 for staffing

Election Administration Equipment

• $117,308 in ballot printing
• $48,800 for 8 additional precinct scanners
• $674.35 for Air Ballot Print Drums
• $4,383 for Air Ballot Toner
• $528 for extra vDrives for precinct scanners
• $650 for shipping and handling of HART scanners
• $4,347.55 for warehouse conveyor belts

Absentee Voting Equipment or Supplies

• $28,200 in BlueCrest ballot sorting machine supplies
• $4,600 in licenses to stream warehouse cameras 24/7, legislative requirement to open absentees early
• $1,314.50 for back-up letter opener
• $30,000 for 4 additional central scanners to scan absentees
• $47,875 for hardware and software relating to additional absentee scanners

Non-Partisan Voter Education

• $21,964.92 postage for mailing informational postcards
• $32,155.30 for Note How to Vote postcard printing
• $2,149.95 for Note How to Vote Drop #2 postcard printing
• $1,494 for postage on #2 postcard

Polling Place Rental and Cleaning Expenses

• $4,200 for extra cleaning at the elections warehouse
• $10,580 to rent space from the State of Idaho at the HP campus for training and phone bank with social distancing

Personal Protective Equipment

• $2,000 for hexagon voting pencils, disposable, to be used at polling places
• $2,021.18 for PPE totes from Uline to be used at polling places
• $1,650 for voting directional signs from Idaho Screen Print
• $685 for printing COVID posters for polling places

Dedicated COVID Positive Voting Location

• $4000 to pay 8 firefighters to run COVID positive polling place @$500/person
• $3061.42 for EZ up tents

To ensure fair and honest elections, the State of Idaho allows Poll Watchers to observe election activities. The primary responsibility of the Poll Watcher is to observe the conduct of the election at a specific polling place on behalf of a candidate, party, or ballot question on Election Day.  A poll watcher is not the same as a poll worker. Learn more about poll watchers on our information page, or see Idaho Statute, Chapter 34-304.