Idaho to move to vote-by-mail?

It seems that Idaho’s county clerks have recently passed a resolution to develop the legislative language necessary to shift voting in their state to an entirely vote-by-mail process. This is from a story from MSNBC:

County clerks from across Idaho have given their stamp of approval to a system allowing people to vote by mail, saying the new method would lower costs and increase voter turnout.

The Vote By Mail proposal would parallel programs in Washington and Oregon by mailing ballots with return envelopes to all registered voters. Once residents have voted, ballots can be mailed to or dropped off at the county elections office, where signatures will be verified and votes counted. The system would be similar to absentee voting a program which has been widely used in Franklin County, said County Clerk Elliott Larsen and would eliminate the need to vote at designated precinct polling places.

Voters would still have the option to vote in person at a centralized voting precinct, most likely the clerks office, Larsen said.

At an August meeting, Idaho county clerks passed a resolution to be drafted into legislation and presented to the 2007 Idaho Legislature, Larsen said. The Vote By Mail legislation would have to be passed by both the Idaho Senate and House, and would give local governments the option of implementing the system.