MCGRANE: A Voter, a Pen, and a Paper Ballot

By Secretary of State Phil McGrane

Highlights from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office
November 13, 2026

Elections are huge, complex operations that take months of planning and an army of professionals and volunteers to pull off. They require specialized equipment, coordination across numerous polling locations, bulk mailings, and public education campaigns.

But at the center of all that complexity is something quite simple: a voter, a pen, and a paper ballot. And long after Election Day, that paper ballot remains a record of the voter’s choices, one we can return to and count again.

In an election like this one, more than 734,000 ballots add up to a tremendous amount of paper. County clerks are responsible for keeping every ballot secure before, during, and after the election. Machines play an important role in processing that much paper, providing an accurate and efficient tabulation of the ballots. Before each election, logic and accuracy testing checks that the machines are counting votes as expected. After the election, hand-count audits check those results.

Earlier today, I met with my fellow State Board of Canvassers members, Controller Brandon Woolf and Treasurer Julie Ellsworth, to randomly select counties and precincts across Idaho for a hand-count audit. Following each even-year primary and general election, we make that selection and dispatch teams of auditors to county seats across the state to verify election results.

Our teams go directly to the source: the paper ballots. They count, by hand, the votes cast in a selected race in the selected precincts, then compare those totals with the reported results. It’s a straightforward way to check that the count accurately reflects the choices voters made.

Hand-count audits are one of our 12 Principles of Idaho Elections and one way we put our commitment to accuracy and transparency into practice. If a question arises about the count, we have the original record to examine.

There is a tremendous amount of work and technology behind every election. But the check we’re making comes back to that simple piece of paper and the choices an Idaho voter marked on it.

A voter, a pen, and a paper ballot: a simple act, and a lasting record that lets us check our work.

Phil McGrane

Remembering Joe Larsen

I talk a lot about the tireless work our 44 county clerks do for our communities. The day after Election Day, I learned that one of those incredible public servants, Cassia County Clerk Joe Larsen, had passed away.

I had known Joe since my time as Chief Deputy Clerk, and he embodied the best of public service. He was thoughtful, committed to the work, and quietly went about making his corner of the world better.

Joe will be deeply missed. My thoughts are with his family, his staff, and the Cassia County community he served.

About Phil McGrane

Phil McGrane was elected Idaho’s twenty-eighth Secretary of State and took office on January 2, 2023. McGrane served as elected Clerk of Ada County from 2019-2022. McGrane holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy, a juris doctorate, and a Master of Public Administration. As a fourth-generation Idahoan, Phil has dedicated his career to making elections in the state of Idaho accessible, secure and transparent.

• Web
|
• More Posts(82)