Polls open in Cascade County; 21,190 ballots accepted so far

Posted on November 3, 2026 by Jenn Rowell

Polls are open in Cascade County until 8 p.m. today.

As of 7 p.m. Nov. 2, the Cascade County elections office had accepted 21,190 ballots and staff were scanning through the evening until they had processed all ballots received in the mail and drop boxes on Monday, Terry Thompson, county elections administrator, told The Electric.

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The accepted ballots are about 59 percent of the 35,957 absentee ballots mailed on Oct. 9. Voters have continued to register and receive ballots in the meantime so that percentage will change once the total number of ballots have been cast and counted.

As of late October, some ballots had been returned undeliverable and some were rejected due to missing or mismatched signatures, Thompson said.

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The elections office notifies voters whose ballots have been rejected in an effort to get the issue resolved by 5 p.m. Nov. 4 so their ballot can be counted.

Voters can check their voter registration status, sample ballot and track their ballot on the state’s My Voter page.

County elections office expanding hours ahead of November election

Thompson said that for the November election, ballot envelopes missing the birth year, or with an incorrect birth year, won’t be rejected since a district court judge had ruled last month that the 2025 law requiring birth years was unconstitutional.

The box to fill in birth year remains on the envelope solely because ballots were printed before the judge’s ruling, Thompson said.

The Cascade County elections office extended its hours to allow voters additional time to ensure their registration is current, register to vote, or get a replacement ballot, in an effort to avoid long lines on Election Day in November.

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The federal general election is Nov. 3 and regular registration ended at 5 p.m. Oct. 5.

Late registration began Oct. 6 and ran through noon on Nov. 2.

Same-day registration is done on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Thompson told County Commissioners during their Sept. 2 work session that they were “proposing that we give this a try.”

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Her proposal, which commissioners approved during their Sept. 8 meeting, extends the election office’s hours of operation for an additional 28 hours to be open:

Monday through Friday, Oct. 19-30 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Thompson said overtime costs had already been factored into the budget and she’d stagger employee shifts to cover the additional hours.

She said during the Sept. 2 work session that elections staff typically work overtime during the two weeks before an election, including weekends, so the additional operating hours aren’t considered a hardship.

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Thompson said elections staff are typically scanning ballots nightly until about 10 p.m. in the weeks before an election.

She told commissioners that they’ll gather data during the additional operating hours to see how many people are served and whether it keeps lines down on Election Day.

Polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, but in recent years, lines have stretched on late into the night for federal elections. Election officials, usually with the help of a Cascade County Sheriff’s deputy, mark the last person in line at 8 p.m. and voting continues until that last person has cast their ballot.

Voters are encouraged to update their voter registration or register to vote before Nov. 3, Thompson has said several times publicly in recent months.

The elections office will again be moving to Expo Park for Election Day on Nov. 2 and operate out of the Exhibition Hall on Nov. 3.

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Commissioners approved that plan during their Sept. 8 meeting with the following schedule:

Oct. 30: Exhibition Hall setup begins but the elections office remains open in the Courthouse Annex
Nov. 2: early counting of absentee ballots begins at 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. with elections staff and election judges; the elections office remains open in the Annex through 5 p.m. with limited staff
Nov. 3: all elections operations will be exclusively at Exhibition Hall; the drop box at the Annex will be available from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; no elections staff will be working in the Annex
Nov. 4: Exhibition Hall tear down; elections office resumes operations in the Annex with limited staff

The county races on the November ballot are:

Cascade County Commission

Tom Lynch (R)

Barbara Bessette (D) (did not respond to questionnaire)

Sheriff

Jesse Slaughter (R)

County Attorney

Josh Racki (R)

Clerk and Recorder

Lynn Deroche (R)

Treasurer/Superintendent of Schools

Diane Heikkila (R)