After taking my kids to school this morning, I noticed campaign signs, again. I came home determined to find more voter information. In my last blog, I figured out the date of the Primary Elections (May 15) and where to vote. I also discovered my precinct, congressional and legislative districts.
Today I want to figure out:
- How to register to vote and how to register with a specific party
- A list of who will be on the ballot
Hopefully it won’t take me too long (I need to clean the house).
In my search, I stumbled across this voter information packet. This packet covers the importance of voting, how to vote, and generally, when voting occurs. It also has an extensive list of contact information for county and state officials (if you need that).
Finding out if I was registered to vote, and my party affiliation, was easy. I used this Idaho Votes link, and input my county and name. If I want to be affiliated with a specific party, I could fill out this Party Affiliation Declaration Form and send it to my county clerk (all of the county clerk’s addresses are listed here). If I want to vote in the Republican Primaries, I must be a registered Republican. If I want to affiliate with another party, I do not need to be registered with that party to vote in their primary (only Republicans and Democrats vote in the primary elections).
Now that I checked my voter registration, I want to find a list of all the candidates running for office.
Twenty minutes later … here’s what I found, but it’s a bit confusing. This Idaho Statesman article has a list of the candidates running for each available office. This Idaho Secretary of State webpage has a link to the Candidate Information Directory. Interestingly enough, the two lists of candidates do not entirely match up.
Next time I blog, I want to research information about the specific candidates. Do they have a website, what are their goals for education, and keeping our kids safe?
Now I better get back to my mom jobs.
