COEUR d'ALENE - Polls will open at 8 a.m. sharp this morning for the primary elections which will determine who will be on the general election ballot in November.

"Early and absentee voting is about on pace with the May 2012 primary, when there was approximately 20 percent voter turnout," said Kootenai County Deputy Clerk Pat Raffee.

Voters will have a choice between three ballots - non-partisan, Democratic and Republican. But how the voter is affiliated will determine which ballot that voter can choose. (See graphic).

Any voter who is affiliated with the Republican Party can choose any ballot they want to vote.

Any voter who is currently unaffiliated with any party can choose any ballot. However, if the voter chooses the Republican ballot, he or she will have to affiliate with the party at the polls.

The Republican Party has closed its primary election to Republicans only. All other parties hold open primary elections, which allows all voters, no matter what party they are affiliated with, to cast a ballot.

Any voter who is affiliated with the Democratic Party can only select the non-partisan or the Democratic ballot. The non-partisan ballot only includes the judges running for office in Kootenai County.

There are dozens of Democrats running write-in campaigns during this primary election, and chances are, there will be at least one write-in candidate in every voting precinct.

Voters can go to the Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee website for a list of those candidates, or they can ask their poll worker if there are any write-in candidates in the precinct.

"They can give you that information, but you have to ask," Raffee said, adding poll workers can even spell the names of the candidates if asked.

All registered voters will have to have photo identification or sign a personal identification affidavit in order to receive a ballot.

Unregistered voters, or those needing to re-register, will need to bring in proof of residency.

"People need to re-register if they moved - even if it is next-door - or if they were married or had a name change," Raffee said, adding that can be done at the polls with the proper proof of residency.

"The most common proof is an automobile insurance card because most people have those in their cars," she said. "But a utility bill or mortgage bill or rental payment that shows their name, address and dated no later than April 19 of this year."

Raffee said people need to make sure they are not bringing campaign materials within 100 feet of the polling locations. Those include campaign signs and literature, hats, buttons or anything that is promoting candidates or issues on the ballot.

Kootenai County's elections team expects to post the first results - which will be absentee ballots - about 9 p.m. tonight on its website, www.kcgov.us/elections. They anticipate final results will be posted sometime after midnight.

Raffee said all votes are "unofficial" until after the canvass with the commissioners, which is scheduled for May 27, at 2 p.m.