The Idaho Democratic Party announced late this afternoon that Secretary of State Lawerence Denney has agreed to make changes to 22 billboards posted statewide to advertise the upcoming March 8 GOP and Constitution Party presidential primary election, in response to the Dems’ complaint and threat of legal action. “He called our office,” said party spokesman Dean Ferguson.

UPDATE: Denney's office confirmed Thursday morning that it's making the change, which will take about a week to alter all the billboards. The words “Presidential Primary Election March 8” will be removed, so the billboards simply point voters to the Secretary of State’s “Idaho Votes” website for information. Late Thursday afternoon, Denney issued a news release; you can read it here.

The Democrats had complained that the billboards, which were headed “Official Information,” were misleading in suggesting that the March 8 primary was the place to vote for president, without mentioning the Democratic Party’s March 22 presidential caucuses. Both are mentioned on the Idaho Votes website.

“We thank the Secretary of State’s Office for recognizing that their billboard advertising campaign was misleading and for agreeing to fix the billboards,” said Democratic Party Executive Director Sally Boynton Brown. “We are also pleased that we solved this issue without having to take it court.”

The party also thanked its attorney, Sam Dotters-Katz of Jones Gledhill Furhman Gourley in Boise, saying  his work “was no doubt persuasive in convincing the Secretary of State’s office to avoid a legal contest and seek a reasonable resolution out of court.”