After a 22-22 tie between Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter staffer Roger Brown and Ron Paul Republican Brock Frazier, a coin toss will decide which man receives a seat as voting precinct committeeman.

Both candidates are from Precinct 1915, an area northwest of Downtown Boise between 16th and 27th streets. The toss is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 22.

The coin flip will take place at Ada County Courthouse, with Brown and Frazier required to attend. Ada County Clerk Chris Rich will administer the toss.

The contested race comes after critics accused Ron Paul supporters of attempting to garner precinct seats in order to turn back Mitt Romney's Idaho GOP caucus win. By gathering precinct seats, committee members could sway elections in favor of Paul.

On Primary night, Tuesday, May 15, precinct commissioner Gordon Browning echoed those accusations.

Polls are open and Primary Day 2012 is under way.

In the Idaho Legislature, 106 seats are again up for grabs this year, and Republicans are facing off against one another in most of them. More than 60 GOP legislative races are on Idaho ballots today. Democrats are facing off in 10 of their own contests. Additionally, voters are deciding on candidates for county commissioner, sheriffs and several levies throughout the Gem State.

If all goes as predicted, voter turnout should hover between 25-30 percent, but voters should expect to see some delays, as they face the task of choosing a political party affiliation before they cast their ballots. In Canyon County alone, only about 10 percent of registered voters are affiliated with any party.

Voters are being asked today to select Democrat, Republican, Constitution, Libertarian or unaffiliated. Then things get a bit complicated. If you are officially registered as a Republican, you'll be able to request a Republican, Democrat or nonpartisan ballot. But if you are registered with the Democrat, Constitution, Libertarian parties or choose to be unaffiliated, you'll be able to request a Democrat or nonpartisan ballot, but not a GOP ballot.

Because of the high risk of confusion and delays, extra poll workers have been brought in today. In Canyon County, the Idaho Press-Tribune reports that the county has had to shell out more than $9,000 to bring in an extra poll worker for each of the county's 62 precincts.

Election officials will ask voters to provide a photo ID, but remember that you can also sign an affidavit if you don't have ID.

Early voting is resuming today at the Ada County Board of Elections. Poll watchers reported that more than 800 registered voters had already cast their ballots by the afternoon of May 4.

Meanwhile, election officials told Citydesk that they have mailed out thousands of special postcards to Ada County registered voters, informing them of their polling location. Hundreds of residents have been displaced into new precincts and/or polling places and JoMeta Spencer, election supervisor with the Ada County Clerk's office, told Citydesk that her colleagues have been fielding a lot of inquiries on where to vote come Tuesday, May 15.

Early voting got under way this morning in Ada County, while early voting has already been under way for a full week in Canyon County.

Voters are cautioned that this year's process should take a few more minutes of their time. Voters are being asked to select a party affiliation before they're able to vote (and yes, you can still be nonpartisan), but this is where things get a bit complicated.

Democrat, Constitution or Libertarian Party members will be able to vote on the Democrat or nonpartisan ballot, but the nonpartisan ballot only contains three unopposed judges. Republicans will be able to vote the Democratic, Republican or nonpartisan ballot. Once you've made your choice of party and are handed a ballot, you can't change until after the primary.

Early voting in Ada County takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 400 N. Benjamin Lane in Boise. In Canyon County, voting takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1102 E. Chicago St. in Caldwell. Early voting will end on Friday, May 11.

Primary Day is Tuesday, May 15, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The 2012 primary election marks a big change for voting in Idaho. This year, voters will be asked to affiliate with a party as part of Idaho's first closed primary.

When voters enter the Ada County Elections building, located in Boise at 400 N. Benjamin Lane, Suite 100, they will be handed a sheet of paper asking them to declare themselves for the Democrat, Constitution, Libertarian, Republican party or as unaffiliated.

From there, voters will select their ballot. By design, Republicans will be able to vote the Democrat, Nonpartisan or Republican ballot. However, Democrats will only have the Democrat and Nonpartisan ballot as their options.

State, local and national elections are on the ballot for this primary, including the entire Idaho Legislature, county commissioners, Idaho's two Congressional seats, a number of unopposed Ada County judges and the presidential election.

Early voting begins Monday, April 30, and will continue through Friday, May 11. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

UPDATE 8 p.m.

Mitt Romeny won all 20 delegates in Sunday's Puerto Rico Republican presidential primary.

To date, Romney leads the overall race for delegates with 521. Rick Santorum follows with 253; Newt Gingrich has 136 and Ron Paul has 50.

Next up: the Illinois GOP primary on Tuesday, with 54 delegates at stake.

ORIGINAL POST

The latest cross-country stop on the GOP presidential campaign trip is Puerto Rico, which holds its primary today.

Both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum campaigned in Puerto Rico this past week, in search of the island's 20 delegates to the Republican national nominating convention. Romney got a key endorsement from Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuno, who is pushing hard to make the island the 51st American state.

This November, not only will Puerto Ricans vote for president, but they'll also decide the direction of their island's political status: statehood, independence or no change.

Romney and Santorum will watch the results from Illinois, the site of the next big primary, which is slated for Tuesday. Much of the early public polling shows Romney ahead in Illinois, with particular strength among suburban voters in and around Chicago.

Today is an important day for Idaho elections - across the state and across the Treasure Valley.

Today at 5 p.m., early voting will end for several school levy initiatives. Voters in the Boise, Meridian, Nampa and Caldwell districts will all hold supplemental levy elections next Tuesday. You can examine what's at stake in the Boise School District in the current issue of Boise Weekly.

Officials at the Ada County Board of Elections tell BW that there has been an unusually high early voter turnout for the Boise school vote.

Additionally, today is the last day for Idaho citizens to file their candidacy forms if they choose to run for the Idaho Legislature.

Also, scores of county offices are up for grabs this year. In Ada, voters will be deciding on two open Ada County Commission seats, as well as county sheriff and county prosecutor.

Idaho Republicans showed up in record numbers to back their candidate for president last night. In fact, Ada County's caucus at Taco Bell Arena, with just more than 9,000 participants, was the largest to date in the country.

For a round up of Boise Weekly's coverage of the night, click here.

And for the night in photos, check out this slideshow.

One of the trickle-down effects of the state's contentious redistricting process is the establishment of new voting precinct boundaries. As a result, Ada County has increased its number of precincts from 141 to 145.

"Voters should now see shorter lines and have shorter drives to polling locations," said Ada Chief Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane.

Prior to redrawing the boundaries, some large Ada County precincts had upwards of 3,000 voters, but the change brings the average down to around 1,400.

Additionally, new boundaries have been set to determine which parts of Ada County are represented by which county commissioner.

District 1 will include the central Boise region and the central Foothills. The district has been represented by Sharon Ullman but she now lives in another district; therefore this seat will be open in this year's election.

District 2 will include west Boise, north Meridian, Eagle and Star. The district is represented by Rick Yzaguirre, who will be up for re-election in 2014.

District 3 will include eastern and south Ada County. The district is currently represented by Vern Bisterfeldt, who is expected to run for re-election later this year. Ullman is expected to challenge him.

Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa said he's not inclined to delay Idaho's primary on May 15 or the filing deadline on March 9, following the Idaho Supreme Court's decision to toss out the proposed redistricting map, which will define legislative and election boundaries.

In a 4-1 decision handed down Wednesday, the justices said the map was unconstitutional, siding with challengers from Twin Falls, who claimed the redistricting had inappropriately divided 12 of Idaho's 44 counties.

"Because the plan divides more counties than is required to do so, it violates ... the Idaho Constitution and is therefore invalid," wrote Chief Justice Daniel Eisman.

The redistricting commission is expected to reconvene as early as next week.

Ysursa told the Associated Press that the state "has been in a position before" of making changes to its redistricting plan against a tight election deadline.