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Voting Rights · Report · File No. 261111-325

Idaho finds 2,675 ballots left out of election-night results in two counties

Latah County is recounting every ballot after 2,342 were left out of public results, and Bannock County found 333 uncounted. Officials say no winners changed so far, but the errors came in close races.

By the Campaign Desk · · 2 min read

Every quote in this story (2) was matched word for word against its source. How we work

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Brad Raffensperger
Brad Raffensperger. Photo: Mthassinger, CC BY 4.0

Election officials in two Idaho counties have found 2,675 ballots that were left out of reported results or went uncounted on election night. The errors surfaced in checks made after the Nov. 3 midterm election 1.

In Latah County, in North Idaho, 2,342 ballots had been run through the county's voting machines. They were never added to the results the county posted publicly 1. The county clerk's office caught the problem during a routine review before the official vote count, called the canvass 2.

A full recount began Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Latah County Courthouse, and the public can watch it 1. It will push the county's certification of results to Thursday afternoon 1.

A second county, a second error

On Tuesday, officials in Bannock County announced that 333 ballots had not been counted on election night. All of them came from one precinct, Pocatello 2 1. They have since been counted, and no race outcome changed 1.

From Channel GOPSchumer recounts rioters hunting him on January 6Chuck Schumer · 105 plays · captioned, with the source named

Bannock County Clerk Jason Dixon said, "Needless to say, this should not have happened." 1 Secretary of State Phil McGrane said his office will work to learn why the ballots were not processed 1.

This is a significant discrepancy in results, and we are taking it very seriously
Phil McGrane, Idaho Secretary of State, Republican1

An early review by McGrane's office found that the Latah County votes would not change the winner of any race 1. Still, several contests were close. They include three state legislative seats, two county commission seats, county clerk and county treasurer 1.

Laura Heinse, a Democratic candidate for county commissioner, filed a complaint asking the state to order a full recount of her race. She said the omission raised questions about election-night reconciliation, which is the step where officials match the ballots they received against the votes they reported 1. Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea called the omission "an unacceptable failure that demands immediate answers" 3.

McGrane described the mistake as human error. He said "every indication is that the election was conducted properly and a mistake was made when sharing the results publicly" 23. Idaho keeps a paper record of every ballot cast, and that record is the basis for the recount 2.

What happens next

On Friday, the State Board of Canvassers will meet to start audits of results statewide 1. Next week, auditors will visit randomly chosen counties and precincts to hand-count ballots and check the reported results 1.

Idaho is not the only state with this kind of problem. In Seminole County, Georgia, a review found about 388 more Election Day check-ins than ballots in the reported totals. Results from a voting-system memory card had never been uploaded 1.

Once those results were added, Republican incumbent Gerald Greene went from trailing Democrat Harry James by 58 votes to leading by 262 in State House District 154. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger opened an investigation 1.

That matters because the Idaho and Georgia errors were found by the checks that follow every election, and they cut in different directions. The Georgia correction helped a Republican. The Idaho errors have not changed a winner so far. The recount and audits are meant to confirm that, and voters will want those results made public.

The Record

  1. Midterm election day; Latah County's election-night results left out 2,342 tabulated ballots and Bannock County left 333 uncounted 1.
  2. Secretary of State Phil McGrane called the Latah County gap 'a significant discrepancy in results,' and a full recount was announced 12.
  3. Latah County's recount began, and Bannock County announced 333 uncounted ballots from the Pocatello 2 precinct 1.
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Sources

  1. Newsweek, “Idaho Election Officials Find 2,675 Ballots Left Out of Results” (2026-11-11). newsweek.com/idaho-election-officials-find-2675-ballots-left
  2. The Spokesman-Review, “Latah County to conduct full recount after 2,342 ballots were not reported in initial results” (2026-11-09). spokesman.com/stories/2026/nov/09/latah-county-to-conduct-fu
  3. Boise State Public Radio, “Latah County to conduct full recount after excluding 2,342 votes from results” (2026-11-09). boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2026-11-09/lat

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