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In her Thursday morning  Coeur d’Alene Press article headlined Brannon will seek recount, staff writer Alecia Warren may have inadvertently suggested that a recount of the ballots from Tuesday’s city council and mayoral election is the only remedy available if there were election irregularities.  It is not.[

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Idaho’s legislature anticipated that from time to time there would be questions about the integrity of the election process.  For that reason, the legislators wrote Idaho Code, Title 34, Chapter 20, Elections – Election Contests Other Than Legislative and State Executive Offices.  In particular, § 34-2001 prescribes the grounds on which a city council or mayoral election can be contested.  The grounds for contest are:

• For malconduct, fraud, or corruption on the part of the judges of election in any precinct, township or ward, or of any board of canvassers, or any member of either board sufficient to change the result.
• When the incumbent was not eligible to the office at the time of the election.
• When the incumbent has been convicted of felony, unless at the time of the election he shall have been restored to civil rights.
• When the incumbent has given or offered to any elector, or any judge, clerk or canvasser of the election, any bribe or reward in money or property for the purpose of procuring his election, or has committed any violation as set out in chapter 23, title 18, Idaho Code.
• When illegal votes have been received or legal votes rejected at the polls sufficient to change the result.
• For any error in any board of canvassers in counting votes or in declaring the result of the election, if the error would change the result.
• When the incumbent is in default as a collector and custodian of public money or property.
• For any cause which shows that another person was legally elected.

Idaho Code, Title 18, Chapter 23 (cited earlier) defines the crimes that can be committed in connection with an election, and if one or more have been violated, it may be cause to contest an election.  For example, § 18-2304 makes it illegal for a person to register someone to vote who does not meet the state’s qualifications for a voter.   Carry that a step further.  Suppose that someone offered the illegally registered elector some inducement to vote a certain way.  The person making the offer could be violating § 18-2320, Bribery of Electors.

While some people may argue it is unnecessarily expensive and time-consuming to contest an election, it seems obvious that Idaho’s legislators recognized the possibility of election tampering.  More importantly, they recognized that the importance of honestly administered elections cannot be overstated.  Officials who would knowingly participate in rigged elections are not worthy of the trust and confidence of Idaho’s citizens.  If the evidence in Coeur d’Alene suggests contesting the November 3 election is necessary to preserve the integrity of Idaho’s election process, then there should be no hesitation to contest the election.