Idaho's state Board of Canvassers met today to certify the results of the Nov. 2 election, and here's the news: Just 58.1 percent of Idaho's registered voters cast ballots. That's the lowest turnout for a midterm election since 1978 (that year it was 56.51 percent), and well below the Idaho Secretary of State's office forecast of 63 percent. That forecast, based in part on heavy early voting and fairly high interest in candidates and issues, simply was off, said Tim Hurst, chief deputy secretary of state, and it's not clear why. The percentage of Idaho's voting-age population that cast ballots, based on the official results and U.S. Census figures, came in at 40 percent, Hurst said. "It's still the lowest in years," he said. "People just for some reason didn't show up. We've always talked about how candidates and issues are what get people out to vote, and we had candidates, we had issues, and nobody voted. I don't have an explanation."

One piece of good news from the final canvass of the election results: Nothing changed from the unofficial results the morning after the election. That means Idaho's election-night count was accurate. Turnout figures as a percentage of registered voters aren't apparent in those early results, because Idaho has same-day registration.