House Bill 599 Summary

• Amends Idaho Code Section 18-2316 to clarify that persons cannot willfully destroy, tamper with, or change any ballot that does not belong to them, maintaining felony penalties of 1-5 years imprisonment.

• Prohibits ballot harvesting by making it illegal for any person to knowingly collect or convey another voter's voted or unvoted ballot, effective immediately as an emergency measure.

• Exempts elections officials, postal service workers, common carrier employees, and family members or household members of voters from the ballot harvesting prohibition.

• Limits authorized ballot collectors (family, household members, caregivers) to collecting no more than 6 voted ballots and 6 unvoted ballots per election, and prohibits candidates and party workers from collecting ballots under these exceptions.

• Establishes felony penalties for ballot harvesting when the collector is paid by anyone other than the voter or when 10 or more ballots are collected in violation; other violations constitute misdemeanors.