In 2006, I ran for statewide office. On election night as the returns came in it was obvious that it was going to be close, in fact, I was behind all night. At midnight, with 93 percent of the vote counted, I was down by over 1,800 votes, things looked grim. As the remainder of the votes from Canyon County and North Idaho came in, I began closing the gap. At 3:30 a.m. we were tied vote for vote. At the end of the night, after hundreds of thousands of votes cast I won by a little over 800 votes, that’s less than one vote per precinct. I learned from personal experience that every vote really does count.

President Eisenhower once said, “The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter,” his words still ring true today.

Last year, the Idaho Republican Party successfully increased voter turnout for mayoral, municipal and school board elections. Now, our party is once again working to assure Idahoans turnout in record numbers this May and November.

As we prepare to vote in the upcoming elections there are a few things to know. First, as of March 11, the filing deadline for candidates to declare, so we now know the candidates that will appear on the ballot. Furthermore, we are spending a tremendous amount of time and effort educating voters by providing plenty of free resources and tools to better inform their choices.

For example, the Idaho Republican Party is launching our first-ever 2022 Voter Guide for legislative, statewide and federal races. This is a new resource for voters to engage with the party and our candidates, so they are better informed. Voters can learn directly from the candidates the issues that are most important to the candidate and why. These resources can be found by visiting our website at IDGOP.org.

Additionally, elected Republican leaders in Idaho have created new tools to give citizens an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability towards campaign finance and historic election results.

Secretary of State Lawrence Denny launched the new sunshine and canvass portals, found at sos.Idaho.gov. This is a great resource for voters. It’s never been easier to review campaign donations or historic voter turnout in Idaho elections.

Another force multiplier is State Controller Brandon Woolf’s new Townhall portal available at Townhall.idaho.gov. The Townhall tool will display all public meetings for the State of Idaho making it easier for citizens to participate in the process.

All of these tools, whether official tools from the State of Idaho or election resources from the IDGOP are geared to support voters in their quest for better, quality information about their elections and candidates. The answer to some of the frustrations surrounding elections is not less information but more information for voters to make their decisions.

We applaud the Secretary of State and State Controller for their commitments to transparency and accountability, and we also hope that the digital tools and resources provided by the State Republican Party help you, the voters, get more informed for election day.

Folks, the time to engage is now! My hope is that these new tools and resources not only make it easier to engage but compels voters to turnout.

Lastly, we should all take Thomas Jefferson’s words seriously when considering the importance of voting “we do not have a government by the majority of the people, we have a government by the majority who participate”. Do your part! Inform yourself, participate and vote.

Tom Luna is the chairman of the Idaho Republican Party