COEUR d’ALENE — Cliff Hayes is addressing some potential voter registration irregularities, before they become a problem. The Kootenai County Clerk issued a statement Monday advising that he helped recount one of the May 17 highway district races himself.

“I just want to make sure we’re counting things right, as this is my first election in office,” Hayes told The Press.

The vote counting and registration findings have no bearing on the results of the May 17 school and highway district elections. No recount requests came in, and the legal deadline for challenging those results has passed.

The county’s top election official wants to be sure voters are properly registered before the November election. A recent spot check found a dozen voters who listed the elections office address as their residence.

“What I’m doing now, is making sure people are registering at their last address in Kootenai County, before they became an absentee,” Hayes said.

The elections office sent the 12 voters letters advising them to re-register. Some of these voters were previously directed by the Idaho Secretary of State’s office to register using a county facility’s address, because they were serving in the military overseas, Hayes said. The Secretary of State’s position has changed.

The elections office is also focusing on voters whose addresses are in commercial neighborhoods. Hayes had volunteers review the voter registrations in those areas.

The review turned up 65 voters whose registrations need further scrutiny. Elections staffers are verifying that the addresses on registrations are legal addresses.

“We’re starting to locate some that have registered and they don’t live there,” Hayes said. “We’re working on that. We’re going to be getting with these people and having them register properly.”