BOISE, ID (CBS2) — Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane says Idaho’s 2024 elections were “a huge success,” breaking turnout records in counties small and large, rural and urban.
“I’ve been doing elections for almost twenty years now and I’ve seen a lot of different things,” McGrane said. “Despite the size of this election, the enormity of this presidential election, it really was one of the smoothest elections I’ve been a part of.”
It’s all thanks to poll workers, county clerks, and other election officials around the state, McGrane said, adding that although he knew turnout would be high, he didn’t expect more than three-quarters of every county in Idaho’s registered voters to turn up to the polls.
“We had a record number of Idahoans participate,” McGrane said. “Over 917,000 Idahoans voted in this election. We had several counties with well over 80% turnout. I really do believe it was the presidential election that brought so many people out. We also had some local things like proposition one, but the energy seemed more about being a part of a national event.”
Much of McGrane’s efforts since the last election, he said, was making voting accessible across Idaho, and addressing the needs of rural communities where voting can be more challenging.
“All the outreach efforts, things like the voter pamphlet that went out to every Idahoan, we saw over 1.6 million hits on the Vote Idaho website,” McGrane said. “Being able to access your sample ballot, being able to find all your voting information in a one-stop shop, it all contributed to making voting really easy.”
As the 2024 election set records, McGrane acknowledged that it’s unlikely we’ll see a similar turnout in the next major federal election cycle in 2026, but said he hopes to encourage as many Idahoans as possible to participate.
“It’s going to be a tall order to meet the presidential election in 2026,” McGrane said. “But I’m hopeful we can get Idahoans to participate.”
