Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center

Reported Voting Issues: Bonneville County, Idaho

About this Report

This report tracks self-reports of voting-related issues including misleading election messages, intimidation, and voter registration problems to help identify areas that may need a closer look. It is part of the broader 2026 Voting Information Trends Research Initiative, which examines how Americans access voting information and understand key election-related topics ahead of the 2026 U.S. elections.

We include counties where at least 50 people responded to our survey. Of 250 such counties, Bonneville County ranked 190th highest in reports during this survey period. Findings reflect 57 respondents from Bonneville County, Idaho, surveyed between August 23 and October 26, 2026.

Important Note: This is not a nationally or locally representative sample. Respondents are recruited online, and counties rated higher risk by the Voting Rights Lab are oversampled. Figures are unweighted and reflect only those who responded, not the broader county population. Findings should be interpreted as signals that warrant further attention or verification, rather than as representative estimates or rankings of election administration, election integrity, or the prevalence of voting problems among county residents.

Monitored election problems

ProblemCounts when a respondent reports they…Time window
Registration challenge noticeGot a notice that their voter registration was challenged or canceled, or that they were removed from the rolls.Past month
Conflicting registration informationGot conflicting information about their voter registration.Past week or month
Discouraged from registeringSomeone tried to discourage them from registering or staying registered.Past day, week or month
Misleading calls or textsGot a text, email, message, call or robocall about the 2026 election that felt misleading, coercive or unusual.Past day, week or month
Intimidation or harassmentExperienced or witnessed harassment or intimidation connected with voting or elections.2026 election cycle
Trouble with a voting taskHad trouble registering, checking their registration, or requesting, returning or tracking a mail ballot.2026 election

Table of Contents

Select a name to go to that section.

SectionWhat it shows
Summary of FindingsShare of Bonneville County respondents reporting each problem, compared with the Idaho and national rates
Week by weekWeekly shares for the three problems asked about in the past day or week
Who reported a problemShares by gender, age, household income, race/ethnicity, education and party
Follow-up detailFollow-up answers for each problem reported by more than 10 people
Idaho overviewThe same measures for all respondents in Idaho, for comparison
National overviewThe same measures for all respondents nationally, for comparison
About the surveyWhat the survey monitors, how counties are ranked, and limits of the data

Summary of Findings

22.8% of Bonneville County respondents (13 of 57) reported at least one of six election problems, compared with 26.5% nationally. No single problem is higher than the national rate by more than the margin of error. Statewide, 25.1% of Idaho respondents (180 of 716) reported at least one problem; the chart shows Bonneville County, Idaho and national rates side by side. Bonneville County respondents make up 8.0% of all Idaho respondents (57 of 716) and 0.1% of all respondents nationally (57 of 56,077).

Share reporting each problem, Bonneville County, Idaho

Figure 1. Share of Bonneville County, Idaho respondents reporting each problem, with the Idaho and national shares, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Bonneville County n = 57; Idaho n = 716 (including Bonneville County, 8% of the state's respondents); national n = 56,077. Margin of error for the county share reporting any problem: ±10.9 percentage points, so the county figure is within the margin of error of the national rate. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Week by week

Weekly share reporting each problem, Bonneville County, Idaho

Figure 2. Weekly share of Bonneville County, Idaho respondents reporting each problem (teal line with circles), with Idaho statewide (red line with squares, including Bonneville County) and the national share (black dashed line). The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Hollow points are weeks with fewer than 10 Bonneville County respondents. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Weekly groups in Bonneville County are small (2 to 20 people), and who answered these questions changes from week to week, so treat week-to-week movement as a signal to watch, not a finding. From Aug 23–Oct 12 to Oct 13–Oct 26, the share of Bonneville County respondents reporting any of these three problems went from 11.1% to 14.8% (36 and 27 people): no clear change, since the difference is within the margin of error.

Who reported a problem

Among groups of 15 or more people, reports were most common among people aged 25 to 44 (30.0%) and least common among people with household income $25,000 to $50,000 (13.6%), against 22.8% overall. Groups this small can swing a lot with one or two answers.

GroupReportedShare
All respondents13 of 5722.8%
Gender
Female10 of 3925.6%
Male3 of 1816.7%
Age
18 to 242 of 5–
25 to 446 of 2030.0%
45 to 645 of 2520.0%
65 and over0 of 7–
Household income
Under 25K4 of 1428.6%
25k to under 50k3 of 2213.6%
50K to under 75K2 of 1216.7%
75K to under 100K1 of 1–
100K and over3 of 8–
GroupReportedShare
Race/ethnicity
White or Caucasian11 of 5420.4%
Hispanic or Latino1 of 3–
Asian or Asian American0 of 1–
Native American or Alaska Native1 of 1–
Black or African American1 of 1–
Education
Some High School or Less0 of 3–
High School Graduate3 of 1816.7%
Some College4 of 1428.6%
College Degree4 of 1526.7%
Graduate Degree2 of 7–
Party
Democrat3 of 1030.0%
Republican3 of 1915.8%
Independent/Other7 of 2825.0%

Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, Bonneville County, Idaho, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Shares are shown for groups of 10 or more people. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Follow-up detail

Follow-up detail is shown for each problem reported by more than 10 people. Not shown: registration challenge notices (0 people), conflicting registration information (no follow-up question), being discouraged from registering (1 person), misleading calls or texts (8 people), intimidation or harassment (4 people) and trouble with a voting task (5 people).

Idaho Overview

August 23 to October 26, 2026. 716 respondents across Idaho, including people whose county is not on file.

25.1% of Idaho respondents (180 of 716) reported at least one of six election problems, compared with 26.5% nationally. Of the monitored problems, trouble with a voting task (9.3% vs. 7.2% nationally) is higher than the national rate by more than the margin of error.

Share reporting each problem, Idaho

Figure 3. Share of Idaho respondents reporting each problem, with the national share, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Idaho n = 716; national n = 56,077. Margin of error for the state share reporting any problem: ±3.2 percentage points, so the state figure is within the margin of error of the national rate. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Idaho: Week by week

Weekly share reporting each problem, Idaho

Figure 4. Weekly share of Idaho respondents reporting each problem (red line), with the national share (black dashed line). The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Hollow points are weeks with fewer than 10 Idaho respondents. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Weekly groups in Idaho are small (44 to 183 people), and who answered these questions changes from week to week, so treat week-to-week movement as a signal to watch, not a finding.

Idaho: Who reported a problem

Among groups of 30 or more people, reports were most common among people aged 18 to 24 (38.8%) and least common among people 65 and over (16.7%), against 25.1% overall. Reports fell with age. By race and ethnicity, reports were most common among Hispanic or Latino respondents (38.2%, 21 of 55), 1.6 times the rate among White or Caucasian respondents (24.6%, 165 of 670), a difference larger than the margin of error.

GroupReportedShare
All respondents180 of 71625.1%
Gender
Female104 of 46422.4%
Male76 of 25230.2%
Age
18 to 2426 of 6738.8%
25 to 4480 of 28228.4%
45 to 6455 of 25321.7%
65 and over19 of 11416.7%
Household income
Under 25K44 of 18423.9%
25k to under 50k47 of 20522.9%
50K to under 75K28 of 13321.1%
75K to under 100K21 of 8325.3%
100K and over40 of 10737.4%
GroupReportedShare
Race/ethnicity
White or Caucasian165 of 67024.6%
Hispanic or Latino21 of 5538.2%
Native American or Alaska Native7 of 2429.2%
Asian or Asian American2 of 1118.2%
Black or African American6 of 1154.5%
Other2 of 5–
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian3 of 4–
Education
Some High School or Less9 of 3129.0%
High School Graduate33 of 19816.7%
Some College56 of 21925.6%
College Degree59 of 20029.5%
Graduate Degree23 of 6833.8%
Party
Democrat37 of 13527.4%
Republican74 of 29425.2%
Independent/Other69 of 28724.0%

Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, Idaho, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Shares are shown for groups of 10 or more people. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Idaho: Follow-up detail

Follow-up detail is shown for each problem reported by more than 10 people. Not shown: conflicting registration information (no follow-up question).

Registration notices: who sent the notice

Election office57% (13)
News or social media30% (7)
A political party or campaign22% (5)
Not sure22% (5)
A private group or organization13% (3)

Share of the 23 people asked.

Trouble with a voting task, by task

Trouble checking registration4% (31)
Trouble registering3% (24)
Trouble tracking a ballot2% (18)
Trouble requesting a mail ballot2% (15)
Trouble returning a mail ballot1% (7)

Share of the 723 people asked.

Discouraged from registering: who discouraged them

A private group or organization45% (14)
News or social media39% (12)
Election office29% (9)
A political party or campaign23% (7)
Other19% (6)
Not sure3% (1)

Share of the 31 people asked.

National Overview

August 23 to October 26, 2026. 56,077 respondents who answered all six questions.

26.5% of respondents (14,861 of 56,077) reported at least one of six election problems. The most common were misleading calls or texts (15.7%) and intimidation or harassment (7.7%); the least common was registration challenge notices (2.5%).

Share of respondents reporting each problem, national

Figure 5. Share of respondents reporting each problem, national, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Each person counted once; bases vary slightly by question (56,077 to 56,446). Margin of error for the national share reporting any problem: ±0.4 percentage points. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

National: Week by week

Weekly share reporting each problem, national

Figure 6. Weekly share of respondents reporting each problem, national. The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week, so weekly rates are lower than full-period rates. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

Misleading calls or texts went from 6.8% in the week of Aug 31 to 11.8% in the week of Oct 19; being discouraged from registering went from 1.9% in the week of Aug 31 to 2.0% in the week of Oct 19; conflicting registration information went from 2.0% in the week of Aug 31 to 2.1% in the week of Oct 19. Weeks have 2,874 to 16,019 respondents (the first, partial week 388), so the margin of error is narrow except in that first week. From Aug 23–Oct 12 to Oct 13–Oct 26, the share of respondents reporting any of these three problems went from 10.4% to 13.9% (44,992 and 16,011 people): a rise larger than the margin of error.

National: Who reported a problem

Among groups of 200 or more people, reports were most common among people aged 18 to 24 (42.5%) and least common among people 65 and over (19.0%), against 26.5% overall. Reports rose with income and education, and fell with age. By race and ethnicity, reports were most common among Hispanic or Latino respondents (33.6%, 1628 of 4850), 8 points higher than White or Caucasian respondents (25.1%, 10421 of 41451), a difference larger than the margin of error; Asian or Asian American respondents (30.5%), Black or African American respondents (30.2%), Other respondents (30.1%), Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian respondents (29.3%) and Native American or Alaska Native respondents (29.0%) fell in between.

GroupPeopleShare
All respondents56,07726.5%
Gender
Female32,59424.6%
Male23,48329.1%
Age
18 to 243,00042.5%
25 to 4420,21632.0%
45 to 6421,42623.0%
65 and over11,43519.0%
Household income
Under 25K14,92422.3%
25k to under 50k15,84024.7%
50K to under 75K10,77127.8%
75K to under 100K6,12430.5%
100K and over7,82832.6%
GroupPeopleShare
Race/ethnicity
White or Caucasian41,45125.1%
Black or African American9,96630.2%
Hispanic or Latino4,85033.6%
Native American or Alaska Native1,86929.0%
Asian or Asian American1,64830.5%
Other47830.1%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian31429.3%
Education
Some High School or Less2,60519.1%
High School Graduate17,57423.2%
Some College14,40425.8%
College Degree16,72430.0%
Graduate Degree4,77032.7%
Party
Democrat20,12929.2%
Republican17,07326.4%
Independent/Other18,81423.6%

Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, national. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Source: CHIP50 survey data.

National: Follow-up detail

Follow-up detail for respondents nationwide who reported each problem. Not shown: conflicting registration information (no follow-up question).

Registration notices: who sent the notice

Election office46% (647)
A political party or campaign28% (394)
News or social media22% (308)
A private group or organization21% (299)
Not sure14% (191)
Other3% (45)

Share of the 1,401 people asked.

Trouble with a voting task, by task

Trouble registering3% (1,789)
Trouble checking registration3% (1,689)
Trouble requesting a mail ballot2% (1,041)
Trouble tracking a ballot2% (1,039)
Trouble returning a mail ballot1% (656)

Share of all 56,446 respondents asked.

Discouraged from registering: who discouraged them

News or social media35% (749)
A political party or campaign32% (684)
A private group or organization27% (584)
Election office25% (544)
Other10% (210)
Not sure10% (206)

Share of the 2,161 people asked.

About the survey

The 2026 Voting Information Trends research Initiative tracks how people get voting information and monitors possible election-related problems reported at the county level. We focus on issues respondents say they have personally experienced or observed, including misleading election communications, intimidation, voter registration problems, and difficulties completing voting-related tasks. The goal is to identify signals that may warrant closer attention.

We survey about 1,000 U.S. adults each day through an online, nonprobability sample covering all 50 states and Washington, D.C. State-level quotas are used for race, ethnicity, age, and gender. We also collect additional responses from selected counties identified as higher risk by the Voting Rights Lab (VRL), whose 2026 risk index considers factors including electoral competitiveness, election laws and procedures, litigation, and concerns involving state and local election actors.

How to read this report

Counties with at least 50 respondents are ranked by the share of unique respondents reporting at least one monitored problem during the data-collection period. We also report results for individual problems, weekly trends, demographic groups, and when sample sizes allow, additional follow-up detail.

Weekly trends are shown only for questions that ask about experiences in the past day or week, and each respondent is counted once per week. Figures include a 95% margin of error based on sample size. We describe a county as higher than the national rate only when the difference is larger than that margin.

When a respondent selects a problem but then states in an optional written follow-up that nothing actually happened, we recode the response as not reporting the problem. These contradictions are identified using a large language model (LLM) assisted coding and reviewed by a member of the research team.

About the data

These results are signals, not estimates of prevalence. The survey is not nationally or locally representative, and results should not be used to estimate how common a problem is in the country or in any county. Figures are unweighted and describe the people who responded. Unlike individual reports found on social media, these responses come from a standardized survey using the same questions and time periods across respondents, allowing us to compare patterns across places and against a national benchmark.

The purpose of the survey is to identify issues that may warrant independent investigation or verification. Election officials, journalists, and other organizations can then assess those reports and respond when appropriate.

Because the data are self-reported, a response does not by itself verify that the reported problem occurred. Respondents may also interpret questions differently from researchers. For example, some reports of “misleading calls or texts” describe campaign messages rather than false voting information, and some registration notices may come from campaigns or advocacy organizations rather than election offices. These findings should therefore be treated as signals of where to look more closely, not counts of verified incidents.

Use of AI in this report

The research team wrote and reviewed the “About the survey” section. The summaries of the results are filled in automatically from templates built with AI. All numbers come directly from the survey data. Automated text can contain errors, so readers should check the summaries against the tables and charts.