ELECTIONS – Amends existing law to prohibit certain in-person instruction in schools on election day.
This bill amends Idaho school law to prohibit in-person student instruction on election days, ensuring schools do not operate as polling places unless a specific agreement is made between the county clerk and school district. It directly affects school districts, students, and election officials by restricting classroom activities during election periods while allowing exceptions for activities that do not require students to be inside buildings used for voting. The law permits professional development, training, and extracurricular activities on election days as long as they do not involve students being present in designated polling locations, and it grants the state board of education authority to waive instructional hour requirements when election-related closures are necessary.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Mar 5, 2026
Signed Apr 1, 2026
Floor votes · Senate Mar 26, 2026 · House Mar 12, 2026
How they voted
31–4
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 36
Mar 26, 2026
D
Democratic6
83% Yea
R
Republican30
86% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
17
Key actions
7
Committee
3
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President; returned to House
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Received from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
upper
Mar 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time in full – PASSED - 30-4-1AYES – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Bjerke(Bjerke), Blaylock, Burtenshaw, Carlson, Cook, Den Hartog, Foreman, Grow, Guthrie, Harris, Hart, Keyser, Kohl, Lakey, Lenney, Lent, Nichols, Rabe, Ricks, Ruchti, Shippy, Taylor, Toews, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, Wintrow, WoodwardNAYS – Galloway, Okuniewicz, Zito, ZuiderveldAbsent and excused – SemmelrothFloor Sponsor - GuthrieTitle apvd - to House
upper
Mar 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading
upper
Mar 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, read first time; referred to: State Affairs
upper
Mar 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read Third Time in Full – PASSED - 54-14-2AYES – Alfieri, Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cannon, Cheatum, Cornilles, Crane(13), Dygert, Egbert, Ehardt, Ehlers, Erickson(Larsen), Fuhriman, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Garner, Green, Hall(Stone), Handy, Harris, Haws, Healey, Hill, Holtzclaw, Manwaring, Mathias, McCann, Mickelsen, Miller, Mitchell, Monks, Nelsen, Palmer, Petzke, Pickett, Pohanka, Raybould, Raymond, Redman, Rubel, Sauter, Scott, Shepherd, Shirts, Tanner(13), Vander Woude,
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading
lower
Mar 6, 2026
Committee
Reported Printed and Referred to State Affairs
lower
Mar 5, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
No sponsor information available.
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