Good morning, Chairman Guthrie and committee members,

My name is Kendal Shaber and I am speaking on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Idaho and its members statewide. The League supports S1273.

Leagues have produced local voter guides for years. For the past 5 years, the state League has offered an online voter guide, Vote411.org. We have about 65% candidate participation.

However, with statewide distribution of the Secretary of State’s voter guide to every household, we would expect higher candidate participation which is a win for voters. The more voters can learn about candidates, the more informed voter participation in our elections.

One of the most asked questions to the League from new residents is why the Secretary of State doesn’t have a voter guide. It’s convenient for voters to take guides into the polls and to discuss measures and candidates with family, friends and neighbors.

The League does have a concern about the readability of measures if a 7 pt, 6x9 layout is used. Additionally, we prefer a Q&A format because it is more informative, but it would require more than the 200-word maximum in this bill. We recognize that with the fiscal constraints, this may not be feasible at this time. 

However, the Secretary of State’s proposal will make candidate information more accessible to Idaho voters and if we’re lucky, increase voter turn-out.  

Please vote yes on advancing S1273 to the full Senate with a due pass recommendation.  

Thank you and I stand for questions.   

Submitted on 02-16-24 to the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee