County gearing up for election 2012

February 7, 2012

Staff in the Boundary County Clerk's Office is hard at work gearing up for the upcoming election cycle, with events for both voters and candidates just around the corner. Local races on this year's ballot are for two seats on the Board of County Commissioners; District 1, currently held by Commission Chair Ron Smith, and District 3, held by Commissioner Dan Dinning, Boundary County Sheriff, currently held by Greg Sprungl, County Prosecutor, held by Jack Douglas, and precinct committemen for both the Democrats and Republicans in all six of the newly-reorganized Boundary County precincts. Earlier this year, Commissioners consolidated the former Kootenai and Bonners Ferry precincts into a single, BF/Kootenai precinct, reducing the number of precincts by one. Pursuant to Idaho Code, commissioners also realigned the three county commission districts based on the 2010 census. The new commission district map is available by clicking here. This is going to be an historic election cycle; it's a presidential race, there are two U.S Congressmen from Idaho, Raul Labrador and Mike Simpson, seeking to retain their seats, and all seats in Idaho's Senate and House of Representatives, including our district one legislators; Senator Shawn Keough and Representatives Eric Anderson and George Eskridge, have their positions on line. We're going to be asked to decide on an Idaho Supreme Court Justice, as well as a justice on the court of appeals. In District 1 state races, each candidate has a declared opponent, even though the time for candidates to formally file has not yet begun. Declaration of candidacy petitions are currently available in the Clerk's office in the Boundary County Courthouse, 6452 Kootenai Street, Bonners Ferry. The first day for candidates to officially file is Monday, February 27, the filing deadline for those whose names will appear on the primary election ballot is Friday, March 9. Those who choose to seek an office as a write-in candidate, whose names will not appear on the ballot, have until Friday, March 30 to file. County Republicans will, for the first time, hold their presidential caucus during "Super Tuesday," on March 6, in a statewide attempt to encourage candidates for the nation's highest office to visit the state for other than fundraising. It will be held from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Bonners Ferry High School. The Democratic presidential caucus takes place in Idaho on April 14. Information has not been made available. This years primary election takes place on Tuesday, May 15. In an effort to provide our readers and county voters the information they need to make an informed decision during the upcoming election cycle, News Bonners Ferry is developing an on-line voters guide, which will provide information on all the candidates and causes to appear on the ballot in November; as well as information for voters on where and when they can cast their ballot. We invite each candidate whose name will appear on the Boundary County ballot, as well as write-in candidates, to provide a biography, photo and campaign statement for publication, edited only for gramar and style. Candidates should include their name, telephone, mailing address, email, and website URL. These can be emailed to publisher@newsbf.com or mailed to News Bonners Ferry, P.O. Box 1062, Bonners Ferry, ID 83805.