Do you like voting by absentee ballot? Rep. Mike Kingsley, R-Lewiston, supported a failed bill to take that right away. Kingsley’s legislative district includes Idaho County, Adams County and much of Lewiston.
No-excuse absentee voting is a right Idaho voters have had for the past 53 years. Kingsley has shown no evidence of fraud. Testimony from Secretary of State Phil McGrane and others who have run county elections for years said there is no problem with no-excuse absentee voting.
Kingsley’s bill (House Bill 205) would have taken away the right for absentee voting from many of us. The bill picked winners and losers. A person on a religious mission could vote but not someone on a nonreligious rescue mission, like Red Cross, or other disaster relief. Someone attending university could vote but not a person attending a college, trade school or beauty school. Someone who owns a second home in another county or state could vote but not someone who is traveling in an RV.
There is no provision for traveling to help a sick or dying parent or help a daughter after the birth of a baby. The bill includes an exemption for illness but you would need to know you will be sick nearly two weeks in advance to apply for a ballot. How do you know if you will be sick on election day? Poor road conditions, fires, floods ... nope.
Why would Kingsley want to take away a right we have had since 1970? Ask him.
