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The Argonaut | November 7, 2024

Page 1

November 7, 2024

UIARGONAUT.COM

FOR, OF AND BY THE STUDENTS SINCE 1898

Long voting lines cause frustration

Voting machines to blame Ben DeWitt ARGONAUT

Gus Trudell-Richardson, a University of Idaho student voter, stood in line for nearly seven hours before he could cast his ballot on Election Day. He and many other students experienced long waiting times and general confusion at the UI Recreation Center while waiting to vote. Trudell-Richardson was an unregistered voter who came to the polls and registered the same day. He stood in line for registration for 45 minutes and in the line to fill out a ballot for six hours. “There were people in front of me in the line that left after about an hour before I got to vote. I didn’t get to vote until around 10 p.m. By then Idaho had already been called in the presidential race.” Trudell-Richardson lives in the 8th voting precinct in Moscow. The 8th precinct covers most of on-campus housing and Greek Row, as well as some off-campus apartments. In total, there were 508 voters in that precinct, with 490 of them being registered on the same day. By the time the polls closed at 8 p.m., there were still around 200 people in line to vote. Lines did not

John Keegan | Argonaut

A long line of voters in Latah County’s 8th precinct wait to fill out their ballots

clear up until late into the night. Dr. Connie Brumm, one of the volunteer poll workers for the 8th precinct and a board member for the League of Women Voters, explained that the voting process in the UI Rec Center was slowed down because of a miscalculation in planning and not because of staffing issues. To count votes, each voting precinct was provided with an E-poll book, a smart device that is not connected to the internet that scans votes and tallies them. For each voter that was not previously registered, there was a longer than a minute buffer for the information to be stored on the device. This year there were a large number of first-time

voters and many of them had not previously registered. Due to of the limitation of the devices, this caused a massive pile-up in lines leading to the voting booths resulting in five or more hours of waiting time to vote for most students. Despite long wait times and general frustration, Brumm noted that voters did not cause any unpleasant commotion. “Everyone was kind, calm and well-behaved,” Brumm said. She wants to promise students that this won’t happen again. In order to avoid long voting lines, Brumm suggests voters register early for elections in the future.

Proposition 1 loses

McCann, Foreman and Mitchell beat Idaho Democratic opponents Rebekah Weaver ARGONAUT

Incumbent Republican candidate Russ Fulcher won the spot of United States Representative for District 1. Fulcher received 52.2% of the votes. Kaylee Peterson, Democrat, received 44.36%, Matt Loesby, Libertarian, received 2.34% and Brendan J. Gomez, Constitutional, received 1.1%. Republican incumbent, Dan Foreman, received 53.3% of the vote to win the position of Idaho State

Senator. Julia Parker, Democrat, received the other 46.7% of the votes. Foreman will represent District 6, which Moscow is a part of. Lori McCann and Brandon Mitchell have both won their respective seats as State Representatives. Lori McCann, Republican, won State Representative District 6 Seat A, beating Trish Carter-Goodheart, Democrat, with 60.02% to 39.98% of the vote. Brandon Mitchell took State Representative District 6 Seat B as the Republican candidate with 52.68% of the vote. Kathy Dawes, Democrat, came in only slightly behind, with 47.32%. Richie Skiles, the incumbent Latah County Sheriff, succeeded in his race for reelection against his two

opponents. Skiles received 57.91% of the votes, while James Fry received 34.8% and Christopher Middleton received 7.29%. Proposition 1 was rejected by Idaho voters, receiving a 69.6% majority of “No” votes. “Yes” votes for Prop 1 received 30.4% of the vote. Prop 1 was the controversial Idaho ballot initiative that proposed a two-part plan of enabling open primaries and implementing ranked choice voting. Both Republican candidates won the positions of County Commissioner for District 1 and District 3. Tony Johnson defeated Democrat Mark Thorne, 57.11% to 42.89% Jason Stooks defeated Democrat John Bohman, 51.49% to 48.51%.

John Keegan | Argonaut

A voter in Latah County’s 8th precinct approaches the ballot box News, 1

Life, 4

Sports, 6

Opinion, 8

Gallery, 10

University of Idaho

Trump elected as president

Republicans claim majority in Senate Allyssa Dotson ARGONAUT

Democrat Kamala Harris conceded the election about midday yesterday after Republican Donald Trump declared victory early in the day when his Electoral College victory appeared secure. According to the Associated Press, 67.9% of Idahoans voted for Trump and 29.5% voted for Harris. In Latah County, the tally was 52.2% for Trump and 44.2% for Harris. Nationwide, Trump received about 50.8% of the popular vote and Harris garnered about 47.5%, not taking into account a comparatively small number of votes for independent candidates. This election was focused on seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. All seven of these swing states voted for Trump, giving him the lead and victory in the race. As of last night Arizona (11) and Nevada (6) have yet to certify results. Republicans gained three seats in the Senate and will now have a minimum of 52 senators in the Senate for a majority. In the House of Representatives, as of last night, Republicans hold a 212-197 seat lead, with 218 required for a majority. Final results were not available last night. Trump will be sworn in as President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025. Volume 126, Issue no. 4

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