Ada County reported 57,581 early voters in Prop 1 Idaho 2026 as ballots moved through the county’s early voting period from Oct. 19th through Oct. 30th. The Ada County Elections Office said 58,657 absentee ballots had been issued, and 41,129 had been returned.
Voters in Ada County had to get absentee ballots back by 8 p.m. on Election Day to have them counted. The county said absentee ballots can be returned by mail or taken to one of the Ada County drop box locations.
Ada County Elections Office totals
The early-voting number gives a single snapshot of participation during the 2026 midterm elections in Idaho’s most populous county. It also shows the pace of ballot return, with 41,129 ballots back in the county’s hands out of 58,657 issued, a 70.1% rate of return.
Those numbers leave a gap between ballots sent out and ballots already returned. More than 17,000 issued absentee ballots had not yet been logged as returned when the report was released.
Oct. 19th through Oct. 30th
The early voting period ran for 12 days, from Oct. 19th through Oct. 30th. That window is the part of the process where voters in Ada County can act before Election Day arrives, and the county’s totals show how much of the local electorate used it.
For anyone still holding an absentee ballot, the deadline is fixed: it must reach the county by 8 p.m. on Election Day. After that cutoff, the ballot does not count.
Election Day in Ada County
The open question now is simple and practical: how many of the remaining issued absentee ballots will make it back before the deadline. The answer will determine how close Ada County comes to turning 58,657 issued ballots into counted votes in Prop 1 Idaho 2026.
