Bill to make permanent absentee ballot changes advances By KEITH RIDLERFebruary 12, 2021 GMT BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Legislation to make permanent changes in Idaho’s absentee ballot counting procedure headed to the full Senate on Friday. The Senate State Affairs Committee unanimously approved the measure intended to speed absentee vote counting, which was used in the last general election and spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. Lawmakers during an August special session approved a law allowing the opening and scanning of absentee ballots beginning seven days before Election Day. It passed unanimously in both the House and Senate and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Brad Little. But that law expired Dec. 31.