All Roll Calls
Yes: 94 • No: 5
IdahoH 02782025 regular legislative sessionHouseWALLET
ELECTIONS – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding certain election deadlines and the filling of certain vacancies.
Sponsored By: STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Signed by Governor
ELECTIONS
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
11 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 5 costs, 4 mixed.
More Idaho counties can offer early voting
Beginning July 1, 2025, counties can choose early voting through either of two qualifying setups. One uses absentee facilities linked to the statewide voter registration system, with central ballot counting. The other counts ballots at polling places. Early voting starts on or after the fourth Monday before election day and ends at 5:00 p.m. the preceding Friday. Early voters must provide their name, address, and required identification; electioneering is prohibited at early voting sites.
Local boards get revised election-review deadlines
Beginning July 1, 2025, county election-review boards must meet within nine days after an election to review all precinct returns. County commissioners get nine days, rather than five, to review port district formation election returns. When voters approve a library district by majority vote, commissioners have nine days after review to declare it established. That increases the former seven-day deadline. Library district formation orders must reach the required county and state tax officials by December 15 of the election year.
Candidates face firm withdrawal deadlines
Beginning July 1, 2025, federal, state, and legislative candidates must withdraw by 5:00 p.m. the eleventh Friday before a primary. Their general-election deadline is 5:00 p.m. the ninth Friday before election day. County, precinct committeeman, and local political subdivision candidates face the ninth-Friday deadline at 5:00 p.m. before their election. Candidates must submit a notarized withdrawal statement to the official who received their candidacy filing. Filing fees for withdrawing federal, state, legislative, county, and precinct candidates are not refunded.
Local candidates face uniform filing rules
Beginning July 1, 2025, covered local candidates file from 8:00 a.m. the twelfth Monday through 5:00 p.m. the tenth Friday before election day. This aligns city, highway district, and district director filings; covered countywide highway candidates no longer use a 90-day deadline. Uniform local petitions need at least five electors' signatures from the candidate's zone or district and campaign phone and email details. Petition contents are public on request, with limited judicial privacy protections; highway district candidates pay $10 into the county current expense fund. Local clerks must notify county clerks within 24 hours of filings, including highway nominations, and certify local nominees within seven days after filing closes.
Magistrates follow new retention filing dates
Beginning July 1, 2025, magistrates seeking another term use the regular local filing window instead of a 90-day deadline. Filing runs from 8:00 a.m. the twelfth Monday through 5:00 p.m. the tenth Friday before the election. Magistrates file with the county clerk, pay $40, and face a Yes/No retention question on the general election ballot. Failure to file creates a vacancy and bars appointment for two years after the term ends. A majority No vote also creates a vacancy and a two-year appointment ban.
Party candidates get fixed filing dates
Beginning July 1, 2025, party candidates for federal, state, and legislative offices file with Idaho's Secretary of State. Filing opens at 8:00 a.m. the thirteenth Monday and closes at 5:00 p.m. the twelfth Friday before the primary. The Secretary certifies qualified candidates to county clerks by 5:00 p.m. the tenth Friday before the primary. Party committee appointments received after certification must be certified by the next business day. County clerks receive sample primary ballots by the ninth Friday before the primary.
Write-in candidates must declare in advance
Beginning July 1, 2025, primary write-ins for federal, state, and legislative offices must declare to Idaho's Secretary of State. Their deadline is 5:00 p.m. the eleventh Friday before the primary; county and precinct write-ins file with county clerks by the ninth Friday at 5:00 p.m. Local nonpartisan write-ins must declare to the subdivision clerk by 5:00 p.m. the ninth Friday before the election for votes to count. Recreation and library district write-ins use that schedule instead of a 45-day deadline and must legally qualify for office. Where governing law allows skipping elections with no more than one candidate, declarations remain open through that deadline; no filings means no election.
Later voter registration, stricter mail deadline
Beginning July 1, 2025, Idaho's county-office registration cutoff moves from 24 days to 11 days before an election. Registration closes at 5:00 p.m. that day. Mailed applications must arrive by the cutoff; a timely postmark no longer counts. Complete, readable, accurate applications received during the final 11 days take effect the day after the election. Voters who reach voting age or meet residency requirements during that closure may register before the cutoff.
Late candidate replacements face tighter limits
Beginning July 1, 2025, parties can fill vacancies arising after 5:00 p.m. the eighth Friday before a primary and before that cutoff for the general election. Only death or disqualification qualifies, only one party candidate may have declared, and precinct committeeman offices are excluded. County and legislative committees have 15 days and the state committee 30 days, subject to the general election's eighth-Friday cutoff. Appointees must file and pay required fees by 5:00 p.m. the Friday before the general election. A party candidate who dies or is disqualified after the general election's eighth-Friday cutoff stays on the ballot; a win creates an office vacancy filled under Idaho law.
Local ballot measures follow shared deadlines
Beginning July 1, 2025, local initiatives, referendums, bonds, levies, and other ballot questions use the nearest authorized election date. County clerks must receive ballot language by 5:00 p.m. the tenth Friday before that election. Recall petitions must be certified by the tenth Friday before the next scheduled election, replacing the wait exceeding 45 days after an election order. Counties generally hold no more than two elections yearly, on the third Tuesday in May and Tuesday after November's first Monday. Emergency elections remain available; water districts are exempt from the two-election limit, and irrigation districts also have February and August dates for covered matters.
Parties can replace sole primary candidates
Beginning July 1, 2025, party committees can replace a sole declared primary candidate who dies, becomes disqualified, or withdraws. County and legislative district committees have 15 days; the state committee has 30 days. Appointees must file declarations and pay required fees by 5:00 p.m. the eighth Friday before the primary for ballot placement. Vacancies arising after that cutoff follow the separate late-vacancy process. Precinct committeeman vacancies arising after the cutoff are not filled.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Affiliation unavailable
Cosponsors
Jim Guthrie
Republican • Senate
Mitchell & Horman
Affiliation unavailable
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 3/13/2025
Senate Floor Vote
Yes: 28 • No: 3
House vote • 2/28/2025
House Floor Vote
Yes: 66 • No: 2
Actions Timeline
Reported Signed by Governor on March 19, 2025 Session Law Chapter 113 Effective: 07/01/2025
3/20/2025Delivered to Governor at 11:33 a.m. on March 18, 2025
3/19/2025Returned Signed by the President; Ordered Transmitted to Governor
3/18/2025SenateSigned by President; returned to House
3/17/2025SenateReceived from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
3/17/2025SenateReported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
3/17/2025HouseReturned from Senate Passed; to JRA for Enrolling
3/14/2025HouseRead third time in full – PASSED - 28-3-4
3/13/2025SenateRead second time; filed for Third Reading
3/10/2025SenateReported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading
3/7/2025SenateIntroduced, read first time; referred to: State Affairs
3/3/2025SenateReceived from the House passed; filed for first reading
3/3/2025SenateRead Third Time in Full – PASSED - 66-2-2 Floor Sponsors - Mitchell & Horman
2/28/2025HouseU.C. to hold place on third reading calendar one legislative day
2/27/2025HouseU.C. to hold place on third reading calendar one legislative day
2/26/2025HouseRead second time; Filed for Third Reading
2/25/2025HouseReported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading
2/24/2025HouseReported Printed and Referred to State Affairs
2/20/2025HouseIntroduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
2/19/2025House
Bill Text
Bill Text
Related Bills
H 0148, CONSTITUTIONAL DEFENSE COUNCIL – Adds to existing law to provide assistance to individuals litigating against the federal government.
S 1181, PUBLIC DEFENSE – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the Office of the State Public Defender and indigent public defense in this state.
H 0253, PUBLIC RECORDS – Amends existing law to provide additional time to respond to requests for public records from nonresidents and to allow a different fee schedule to fulfill nonresident requests.
S 1066, IDENTITY THEFT – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding disclosure of breach of personally identifiable information and to require that agencies, individuals, and commercial entities offer free credit monitoring services in certain situations.
S 1219, APPROPRIATIONS – STATE TAX COMMISSION – Relates to the appropriation to the State Tax Commission for fiscal year 2026.
S 1142, EDUCATION – Amends and repeals existing law to transfer funds from the Empowering Parents Grant Program Fund to the General Fund and to repeal the Empowering Parents Grant Program.