Enterprise The Idaho
Oneida County's News Since 1879 Malad City, Idaho
October 31, 2024 |Vol. 144 No. 43
$1.50
NEWS IN BRIEF Washington Post “no endorsement” causes firestorm
County Clerk Lon Colton demonstrates the county’s election equipment to a group of citizens including Brian Jeppsen and Toni Werk.
Deputy Clerk Shanci Dorius explains the test ballots to Brenda Daniels and Bill Lewis.
Election set for November 5 After what seems like an interminable election season, the day is finally almost here, as many voters will head to the polls on November 5 to cast their ballots for a range of local, state, and national elections. The phrase “many voters” is used purposefully, as early voting has been underway, and those numbers have been above average numbers across the state, including in southeast Idaho. On the other hand, “many voters” also implies that voting is not at a level of 100% of eligible voters, which is an enduring mystery to those who are invested in election outcomes. While no one will likely ever be able to solve the voter apathy problem in a democracy where voting is a privilege, not an obligation, county officials in Oneida County have been working hard to ensure that the voting process is as transparent as possible for the public. On Monday evening, County Clerk Lon Colton and Deputy Clerks Natalie Murphy, Shanci Dorius, and Mandi Armstrong held a public “Logic and Accuracy” test of the county’s voting equipment. The L&A test is designed to ensure that the equipment is functioning properly ahead of voting day in order to minimize any problems that might occur on the day of. In the case of Oneida County, the secondary purpose was to give those who were interested a chance to see how the voting process—from ballot to tally—works. Over the course of American history, there have been relatively few instances of massive voter fraud, and even fewer in the modern era (one possibly apocryphal example in the nineteenth century is the use of alcohol to bribe indigents into voting booths, which is one alleged cause of Edgar Allen Poe’s mysterious death). However, while
proven instances are very few, rumors and suspicions of vote-rigging have always been rife. The L&A demonstration allowed voters to see exactly how the process works, and where any weak points might or might not be in the process. It also gave people a chance to ask direct questions about how ballots and tabulation were handled. The test involved a set of ballots that were marked in a systematic pattern, which was applied to a set of actual 2024 Oneida county ballots. The ballots themselves were marked in a way that would “spoil” them for any use but testing. The ballots were double checked by hands-on members of the public who tallied what the exact vote totals should be, and then fed through the ballot counting machines. The machine printed a receipt which contained the ballot results, and was then compared against the hand-counted figures. In every case, the two matched with one another. The test involved 28 sample ballots, which is a large enough sample to be statistically predictive, but small enough to identify where any errors may have occurred in the process. As it has in the past, Oneida county’s election equipment should be more than up to the task of handling the hundreds of ballots it will process next Tuesday. Those in attendance raised a number of questions about the process that Colton, Murphy, Dorius, and Armstrong answered. One of the main issues settled was the potential for any external breaches of the voting equipment. Colton stressed that the machines do not use any wireless connectivity, and are therefore not exploitable though external digital means. In other words, they cannot
be “hacked” remotely as there is no mechanism in place by which that could occur. The results are recorded on a set of “data sticks,” which wipe the machine’s memory from the last time they were used in order to store clean data from the current election. The sticks are then transferred to a “hardened laptop,” which has single-use functionality for the process, and is not internet enabled. The layers of security and isolation from external threats are the results of decades worth of improvements in election security, and reflect the best practices of data security as industry standards. While the process will undoubtedly evolve as technology moves on, it is as secure as it can possibly be for this moment in time. Absentee ballots were another issue that was addressed by the Clerk’s office. Questions about how signatures were verified, and the process for ensuring mail-in ballots were accounted for and connected to the voter in question was detailed. Colton explained that they have had people come into the office in the past to verify signatures that may have raised questions or deviated from the official signatures on file. Sometimes, medical issues, physical situations, or even the process of aging can change the appearance of a voter’s signature. “If we have any concerns at all, our priority is to reach out,” Colton said. The issue of write-in candidates was raised, as it has recently been a matter of discussion within the county. There are two lines for “write-in” candidates on Oneida County ballots, one for the presidential race, where there are a number of qualified writeins, and one in the Sheriff’s race, where David Murphy qualified as a
With so many amazing things going on in local sports, it was impossible to choose a single story to feature on the front, which is a good problem to have. The MHS Volleyball team continued to dominate, winning the District tournament and punching its ticket to State. The same is true for
the Men’s Cross Country team, and the Women’s team came in a close second at Districts on their way to state. MHS football wrapped up its regular season with a hard fought loss, but feels confident as they prepare for the playoffs. Malad Middle School 7th and 8th grade Football wrapped
up amazing winning seasons, and the 5th and 6th grade team beat North Century in overtime to qualify for the championship game at the dome in Pocatello next week. Coverage of those and other events can be found inside in the Sports section!
ELECTION On Page 8
An Amazing Week of Sports for Malad
INSIDE THE ENTERPRISE Ghost Night at the Library...................Pg. 2 New School Tour.................................Pg. 3 Veterans Day Essay Contest...............Pg. 4
Puzzles................................................Pg. 6 Obituaries..........................................Pg. 10 Sports........................................... Pg. 11-12
The Washington Post created backlash among many of its readers and writers when celebrity owner Jeff Bezos made the decision to not allow the paper to endorse a presidential candidate this election. The issue is more complicated than the specific endorsements on the table (according to reporting from CNN, the editorial board had prepared an endorsement of Harris), due to the historic role of the Post in presidential politics. As the paper whose greatest fame is associated with its reporting of the Watergate break-in and subsequent events, it has served as something of an elevated national bellwether of civics. Bezos made the case that endorsements created the appearance of bias, while those who resigned from the editorial board pointed to the meeting between Trump and one of Bezos’ companies, which they claimed created a much more pronounced appearance of bias. Bezos claims that he was not aware of the meeting, and that his decision was principled. The Enterprise is not making an endorsement because unlike the Washington Post, we do not have fully separate and independent editorial and news divisions.
Gas prices down more than fifty cents from last year The seasonal gas price cycle is generally fairly predictable, with the “peak driving months” of the summer seeing the highest prices and the winter seeing the lowest. While not technically winter yet (though you wouldn’t know it from the last few days), prices are indeed falling. Last year’s lingering “supply chain issues” as well as turmoil in the oil markets as a result of the wars in Israel and elsewhere were more pronounced than this year, though election uncertainty was projected to be a potential factor in pricing moving forward. Idaho is still among the most expensive states in the country for gas, coming in at an average of $3.37 a gallon, behind California ($4.60), Hawaii ($4.58), Washington ($4.05), Nevada ($3.81), Oregon ($3.64), Alaska ($3.60), and Utah ($3.38). Rexburg has the highest average price in the state at $3.48, according to the AAA.
Deceased newborn left in Blackfoot Safe Haven The Safe Haven Baby Box program was designed to fulfill the function of Idaho’s Safe Haven law, which allows for infants which are healthy and unharmed to be surrendered to authorities for adoption and care. The primary users of the service are mothers who are not in a position to safely care for their infants and are without a support network to provide assistance. Placing a deceased child in the “box” is a violation of the law that protects the program, and the Grove Creek Medical Center explained on its Facebook page that it was cooperating with investigators who were attempting to find more information on how the infant had passed away, and who may have placed the child at the facility earlier in October.