Earlier, when House Speaker Lawerence Denney introduced a last-minute bill to require voters to show picture I.D. and to end mail-in voter registration in Idaho, he said the bill probably wouldn't get a hearing this year - and then, yesterday, a hearing was scheduled for this morning in the House State Affairs Committee. Then it was canceled. Denney said he got a visit yesterday from Secretary of State Ben Ysursa. "The secretary came and saw us yesterday, me and the pro tem, and he convinced us that they will work on the issue over the interim and we will all come back and sing 'kumbaya,' Denney said. Asked why he scheduled a hearing on the bill after earlier saying he likely wouldn't, Denney said, "It had the desired effect. We did get the attention of the county clerks and the secretary of state."

Said Denney, "I think there is a problem there that needs to be addressed, and that's the problem of being able to register by by mail and then request an absentee ballot, so you can vote without anybody seeing you. That needs to be addressed."

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