H0736 • 2026

ELECTIONS – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the form and contents of ballots to be prepared by the Secretary of State.

Elections

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Last action: 2026-03-30
Official status: LAW
Effective date: 2026-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

ELECTIONS – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the form and contents of ballots to be prepared by the Secretary of State.

What This Bill Does

ELECTIONS – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the form and contents of ballots to be prepared by the Secretary of State.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-30 Idaho State Legislature
Reported Signed by Governor on March 26, 2026 Session Law Chapter 186 Effective: 07/01/2026
2026-03-26 Idaho State Legislature
Returned Signed by the President; Ordered Transmitted to Governor
2026-03-26 Idaho State Legislature
Delivered to Governor at 12:58 p.m. on March 26, 2026
2026-03-25 Idaho State Legislature
Reported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
2026-03-25 Idaho State Legislature
Received from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
2026-03-25 Idaho State Legislature
Signed by President; returned to House
2026-03-24 Idaho State Legislature
Read third time in full – PASSED - 34-0-1 AYES – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Blaylock, Burtenshaw, Carlson, Cook, Den Hartog, Foreman, Galloway, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Hart, Keyser, Kohl, Lakey, Lenney, Lent, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Rabe, Ricks, Ruchti, Semmelroth, Shippy, Taylor, Toews, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Wintrow, Woodward, Zito, Zuiderveld NAYS – None Absent and excused – Bjerke(Bjerke) Floor Sponsor - Ruchti Title apvd - to House
2026-03-24 Idaho State Legislature
Returned from Senate Passed; to JRA for Enrolling
2026-03-18 Idaho State Legislature
Read second time; filed for Third Reading
2026-03-17 Idaho State Legislature
Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading
2026-03-06 Idaho State Legislature
Received from the House passed; filed for first reading
2026-03-06 Idaho State Legislature
Introduced, read first time; referred to: State Affairs
2026-03-05 Idaho State Legislature
Read Third Time in Full – PASSED - 68-1-1 AYES – Alfieri, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cannon, Cayler, Cheatum, Church, Cornilles, Crane(12), Crane(13), Dygert, Egbert, Ehardt, Ehlers, Erickson, Fuhriman, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Garner, Hall(Stone), Handy, Harris, Hawkins, Haws, Healey, Holtzclaw, Hostetler, Leavitt, Manwaring, Marmon, Mathias, McCann, Mendive, Mickelsen(Athay), Miller, Mitchell, Monks, Nelsen, Palmer, Petzke, Pickett, Pohanka, Price, Rasor, Raybould, Raymond, Redman, Rubel, Sauter, Scott, Shepherd, Shirts, Skaug, Tanner(13), Tanner(14), Thompson, Vander Woude, Veile, Weber, Wheeler, Wisniewski, Mr. Speaker NAYS – Hill Absent – Green Floor Sponsor - Haws Title apvd - to Senate
2026-03-04 Idaho State Legislature
U.C. to hold place on third reading calendar one legislative day
2026-03-03 Idaho State Legislature
U.C. to hold place on third reading calendar one legislative day
2026-03-02 Idaho State Legislature
U.C. to hold place on third reading calendar one legislative day
2026-02-27 Idaho State Legislature
Read second time; Filed for Third Reading
2026-02-26 Idaho State Legislature
Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading
2026-02-20 Idaho State Legislature
Reported Printed and Referred to State Affairs
2026-02-19 Idaho State Legislature
Introduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing

Official Summary Text

ELECTIONS – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the form and contents of ballots to be prepared by the Secretary of State.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

LEGISLATURE
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IDAHO
Sixty-eighth
Legislature
Second
Regular
Session
-
2026
IN
THE
HOUSE
OF
REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE
BILL
NO.
736
BY
STATE
AFFAIRS
COMMITTEE
AN
ACT
1
RELATING
TO
ELECTIONS;
AMENDING
SECTION
34
-
903,
IDAHO
CODE,
TO
REVISE
PROVI
-
2
SIONS
REGARDING
THE
SECRETARY
OF
STATE
TO
PRESCRIBE
FORM
AND
CONTENTS
OF
3
ALL
BALLOTS
AND
RELATED
DOCUMENTS;
AND
DECLARING
AN
EMERGENCY
AND
PRO
-
4
VIDING
AN
EFFECTIVE
DATE.
5
Be
It
Enacted
by
the
Legislature
of
the
State
of
Idaho:
6
SECTION
1.
That
Section
34
-
903,
Idaho
Code,
be,
and
the
same
is
hereby
7
amended
to
read
as
follows:
8
34
-
903.
SECRETARY
OF
STATE
TO
PRESCRIBE
FORM
AND
CONTENTS
OF
ALL
BAL
-
9
LOTS
AND
RELATED
DOCUMENTS.
(1)
The
secretary
of
state
shall,
in
a
manner
10
consistent
with
the
election
laws
of
this
state,
prescribe
the
form
for
all
1
1
ballots,
absentee
ballots,
diagrams,
sample
ballots,
voting
machine
labels
12
or
booklets,
certificates,
notices,
declarations
of
candidacy,
affidavits
13
of
all
types,
lists,
applications,
poll
books,
tally
sheets,
registers,
14
rosters,
statements,
and
abstracts
if
required
by
the
election
laws
of
this
15
state.
16
(2)
The
secretary
of
state
shall
prescribe
the
arrangement
of
the
mat
-
17
ter
to
be
printed
on
each
kind
of
ballot
and
label,
including:
18
(a)
The
placement
and
listing
of
all
offices,
candidates
,
and
issues
19
upon
which
voting
is
statewide,
which
shall
be
uniform
throughout
the
20
state
.
;
and
21
(b)
The
listing
of
all
other
candidates
required
to
file
with
him,
and
22
the
order
of
listing
all
offices
,
candidates,
and
issues
upon
which
vot
-
23
ing
is
not
statewide.
24
(3)
The
names
of
candidates
for
legislative
or
special
district
offices
25
shall
be
printed
only
on
the
ballots
furnished
to
voters
of
such
district.
26
(4)(a)
The
order
of
the
names
of
candidates
that
appear
on
election
bal
-
27
lots
for
federal,
state,
county,
and
city
local
offices
shall
be
rotated
28
in
the
manner
determined
by
the
secretary
of
state
for
any
political
en
-
29
tity
whose
number
of
registered
voters
at
the
last
general
election
ex
-
30
ceeded
twenty
-
five
thousand
(25,000)
.
31
(b)
The
names
of
candidates
that
appear
on
election
ballots
for
other
32
offices
shall
be
rotated
in
the
manner
determined
by
the
secretary
of
33
state
for
any
political
entity
whose
number
of
registered
voters
at
the
34
last
general
election
exceeds
one
hundred
thousand
(100,000).
35
(c)
(b)
The
order
of
names
of
candidates
for
office
in
all
other
elec
-
36
tions
shall
be
determined
by
applying
the
first
letter
of
each
candi
-
37
date's
last
name
to
a
random
alphabet
selected
prior
to
each
election
by
38
the
secretary
of
state.
39
(5)
No
candidate's
name
may
appear
on
a
ballot
for
more
than
one
(1)
par
-
40
tisan
office
or
one
(1)
judicial
office,
except
that
a
candidate
for
precinct
41
committeeman
may
seek
one
(1)
additional
office
upon
the
same
ballot.
The
42

2
provisions
of
this
subsection
shall
not
apply
to
the
election
of
electors
of
1
president
and
vice
president
of
the
United
States.
2
SECTION
2.
An
emergency
existing
therefor,
which
emergency
is
hereby
3
declared
to
exist,
this
act
shall
be
in
full
force
and
effect
on
and
after
4
July
1,
2026.
5