Idaho House Approves Bill Prohibiting ‘Ballot Harvesting’

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday that prohibits individuals from delivering another person’s voting ballot to post offices or polling locations.

The bill, introduced and carried in the House by Majority Leader Rep. Mike Moyle, R-Star, adds to existing law by amending state code to illegalize collecting another person’s mail-in ballot and delivering it for them. The bill’s text contains exceptions for postal service workers, contractors of parcel delivery businesses and members of the same household, but does not provide exceptions for health care workers or caretakers of disabled individuals.

Ballot harvesting, also known as third-party ballot return, is defined as the practice of individuals delivering another person’s mail-in ballot to polling locations or post offices, according to the Lawyers Democracy Fund, a non-partisan 501(c)(4) organization. While the trend is concerning to some for its lack of administrative oversight, its advocates contend it improves election participation and benefits individuals with health issues or disabilities.

“Idaho does not currently experience significant problems with ballot harvesting,” Moyle said in the bill’s statement of purpose. “However, it has become a widespread practice in some other states, where its practice places many voters’ ballots, and the sanctity of their vote, into the hands of those who may have a conflicted interest in the election’s outcome.”

Moyle continued, “These individuals may have a political incentive to deliver to the county clerk certain ballots, but not others, based on the ballot harvester’s perception or knowledge of the voter’s choices.”

Violating the bill’s provisions would constitute a misdemeanor, but doing so while being paid to collect or convey more than 10 ballots constitutes a felony. Further, should the bill go on to be passed in the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Brad Little, its text contains an emergency clause that would make the change effective immediately.

It passed in the House by a margin of 53 in favor and 15 opposed, with exclusively Republican members voting in support of the measure. Two Republican members joined their Democratic Party colleagues in opposing the bill’s passage.

State Minority Leader Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, told The Well News the legislation is not being driven by any problems with ballot harvesting being experienced in Idaho and laws already exist on the books prohibiting ballot tampering. In addition to posing problems for the disability community, she said the bill could potentially constitute a violation of the Voting Rights Act by virtue of impeding those with disabilities from voting.

“As a legislator myself, I knock on many doors,” Rubel told The Well News. “And on any number of occasions — it’s usually when you get close to election day — you find people who are concerned about mailing their ballot and whether it’ll get in on time, so they ask me to drop their ballot off for them.”

Rubel continued, “It is usually people with disabilities or senior citizens who have impaired mobility that do so. So certainly, by banning this practice the people whose votes predominantly will not be counted, I believe, are those vulnerable populations. I think it will also impair those who live on tribal reservations and in hard-to-reach rural areas.”

Reece can be reached at [email protected].