Legislative committees introduce term limit resolution, voter affidavit removal bill

BOISE — Legislative committees have introduced several resolutions and bills this week seeking to alter both how national candidates are elected and how ballots are cast at the state level.

A concurrent resolution introduced by Rep. John Shirts, R-Weiser, on Tuesday seeks to add Idaho to a list of states calling for an Article V Convention to draft a congressional term limit amendment for the U.S. Constitution.

Shirts said the intention is not to hold an “all-out convention” bringing together delegates to discuss changes to the U.S. Constitution in its entirety; instead, the resolution states that any convention called is to be limited to the issue of term limits in Congress.

“Effectively this call is limited to one thing and one thing only,” Shirts said, “to set term limits for members of the House of Representatives of the United States and members of the United States Senate.”

The draft resolution specifically instructs Congress to draft a term limit amendment and send it to the states for ratification, but “failing this, the states will act on their own.” If passed, Idaho’s application for a term limit amendment will be added with those from other states to attain the two-thirds of states needed under Article V to require Congress to “call a limited convention on the subject," the resolution read.

The motion to introduce the concurrent resolution passed in an 11-4 vote. It arrived shortly after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stopped at the Idaho State Capitol, urging the Idaho Legislature to pass a resolution calling for a balanced budget amendment.

Though not the focus of his appearance, DeSantis also voiced support for the separate amendment proposal to set term limits for members of Congress, as previously reported by the Idaho Press.

Voter Affidavit Removal Bill 

With a focus on elections within the state of Idaho, Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa, introduced a bill Wednesday seeking to remove the option to use a voter’s affidavit at polling locations. Under the current Idaho statute, registered voters can use a personal identification affidavit instead of presenting photo identification. 

A voter affidavit in Idaho includes a voter’s name, address and a signature swearing to the identity provided. The affidavit also includes a written notification that providing a false identity would constitute perjury, a felony in Idaho. After signing the affidavit, voters receive a ballot that undergoes the same tabulation process as all other ballots, according to the Vote Idaho website. 

Lenney said Wednesday that over 213,000 Idahoans cast their vote in the 2025 elections and that 587 used an affidavit, amounting to 0.27% of Idaho’s votes.

Though he said this amounts to “almost nobody” using this method of voting, Lenney also said he voted by affidavit in the 2024 election. He used this prior experience with affidavit voting to claim “nobody checks” the validity of these ballots.

A release from the nonprofit voting organization BABE VOTE noted that many counties in Idaho do not record which forms of voter ID are used when casting ballots, leaving the possibility that this method of voting has a higher adoption rate than reported.

Pointing to House Bill 340, which passed in 2023, Lenney said there was “no valid excuse to show up last minute at the polls without an ID.” This bill, passed into law in 2023, required the Idaho Transportation Department to issue a four-year, no-fee photo ID for voters aged 18 or older who have not possessed a current driver’s license in the previous six months.

This year’s bill represents a renewed effort by Lenney, who introduced a bill in the last session to remove the voter affidavit.

In 2023, the House narrowly rejected a bill from Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene, that also sought to eliminate voter affidavits as a valid form of identification at the polls.

In that vote, representatives were skeptical of the claim that affidavits were used to commit voter fraud and expressed concern that passing the bill would remove an option available to elderly residents who no longer drive and don’t have a valid license, as previously reported by the Idaho Press.

The committee voted unanimously Wednesday to introduce Lenney’s bill, opening the opportunity to bring it back for a future public hearing.