Some Boise City Council races aren’t on the ballot. This Idaho bill would change that

Two Boise City Council candidates were not listed on the ballot in November, but they were elected anyway. The same thing happened in Meridian.

Idaho law requires that local elections not be held when there is only one candidate running for the seat. Instead, the lone candidate is declared the winner without being placed on the ballot.

A Boise lawmaker wants to change that.

Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, on Wednesday introduced Senate Bill 1260, which would make cities with populations over 100,000 people hold elections in uncontested races. Sen. Treg Bert, R-Meridian, is also a sponsor.

After a 2020 state law required city council elections in larger cities be held by geographic district, Boise drew district boundaries, and all council member elections last year were held by district. Council Members Luci Willits and Jimmy Hallyburton, both incumbents, were the only candidates in two Boise districts. Their races were therefore not listed on ballots for those residents of West Boise and the North End.

“Constituents were confused and a little upset because they wanted to vote for people and know who was on their ballot,” Wintrow told a legislative committee Wednesday.

Wintrow said the reason local elections with only one candidate were not required to be held was to save counties money on printing ballots. But, she said, multiple items are usually on ballots in larger cities, meaning the county clerk would likely be printing ballots for other races anyway.

In Boise last year, ballots were printed in the two districts with uncontested council races because there was also a mayor’s race.

Hallyburton, who ran for the North End’s District 6, previously told the Idaho Statesman he wasn’t a fan of omitting uncontested candidates.

“As a voter, I would be frustrated if I showed up to vote and couldn’t see who my representative was,” Hallyburton said. “If there’s nothing on your ballot over and over and over again, they’re eventually going to stop showing up.”