COEUR d'ALENE - Polls open for the general election today, and if early voters are any indication, voter turnout may be low this year.

As of Monday, the county elections office said it had processed 2,760 early voters and 6,894 absentee ballots have been received by mail.

"That doesn't include what we got (Monday)," said Elections Manager Carrie Phillips. "We are still processing those, but it will probably come in close to 650."

Phillips said the office ordered enough absentee ballots to accommodate 20 percent of the registered voters, but then had to order more. That means more than 20 percent of the registered voters have requested ballots.

Phillips said the office ordered enough regular ballots to accommodate 40 percent of the registered voters.

So far, Phillips said they have a total of about 10,000 votes all together.

"But we are not done yet, we will be collecting absentees all day (today)," she said, adding that in the last comparable election, 2010, there were more than 13,000 early voters.

Chief Deputy Clerk Pat Raffee said the elections department will release the first round of results tonight after the polls close.

"Our plan is to upload absentee and early voting results first (tonight)," said Raffee. "And that will likely be around 9:30 p.m. We anticipate our second upload of results will be posted around 11 p.m. and a third upload will be posted around 12:30 a.m.

"The final unofficial total results will be posted around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

"For the last two elections, we have had difficulty uploading results to the county's website," Raffee said, adding since May, the elections staff has researched methods to prevent a recurrence of late reporting.

"In the past, we have attempted to upload results as many as seven times per election," said Raffee. "Our software vendor has advised elections staff to upload less frequently, in larger batches of precincts, for smoother result uploads," she concluded.

Raffee said the times of expected postings detailed above will appear on the county's website by the time the polls close tonight, and it will be updated as needed, so members of the public seeking election results can plan their time accordingly.

You can view the live results on the Kootenai County Elections website: www.kcgov.us/elections.

Election Day voting will take place today in Kootenai County. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

All voters must go to their designated polling places to cast their ballots. County residents can look up their designated polling places using the elections office's online polling place locator tool: www.kcgov.us/elections/search

Voters unable to use the polling place locator tool can call the elections office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for assistance: (208) 446-1030.

All voters must be registered, and must present photo identification to a poll worker for verification.

To register, a voter must be 18, a U.S. citizen, and a legal resident of Idaho, the county and city of residence for 30 days prior to an election. Voters who move or change their names must re-register.

Election Day registration is permitted at a voter's designated polling place, with proper photo identification and dated proof of residence. Acceptable forms of photo identification include: Idaho driver's license or state-issued photo identification card; U.S. passport or federal photo identification card; tribal photo identification card; or current student photo identification card issued by an Idaho high school or post-secondary education institution.

If a voter is unable to present photo identification to a poll worker for verification, the voter will be given the option to sign a Personal Identity Affidavit. If the voter signs the affidavit, and swears to his or her identity under penalty of perjury, the voter will be issued a ballot.

Sample ballots can be found on the elections office's webpage: www.kcgov.us/elections