COEUR d’ALENE — Early voting begins next week in Kootenai County.

Voters can cast their ballots at the Kootenai County Elections Office, 1808 N. Third St., beginning Monday and ending Friday, Oct. 31. Early voting is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

Almost everyone in the county has a race to vote on, including city and school board races, but according to elections staff, about 2,500 voters scattered across the county won’t have anything to vote on because their races were uncontested or because of where they reside. 

Some voters have Hayden or Coeur d’Alene addresses but don’t actually reside in the incorporated areas of those cities. As such, they won’t be able to vote in city elections. 

Kootenai County Elections Manager Asa Gray recommends that voters check what will be on their ballots in advance. 

“If people go to voteidaho.gov ahead of time, that’s a great tool for them to see their sample ballot before they come in to early vote,” he said. 

Elections staff emphasized that people who need to register to vote or who have moved and need to reregister must show a valid photo ID, such as an Idaho driver’s license or Idaho ID card, a passport or federal ID, a tribal ID card or a concealed weapons license issued by a county sheriff in Idaho. 

Out-of-state driver’s licenses are not acceptable forms of photo ID. 

“We still see a lot of people who have Washington, California and Arizona licenses and we can’t use them,” Gray said. 

In the November 2023 election, the last time city races were on ballots, 2,458 Kootenai County residents voted early, according to the county. A total of 2,090 residents voted early in the November 2021 election. 

“We’re expecting something similar to those numbers again, maybe even a little higher with how contested things are in Coeur d’Alene,” Gray said. “Every election is different, so it’s hard to predict.”