Voters head to the polls on Tuesday

Early absentee voting is currently underway at the county courthouse.

Voters will go to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 6, to cast ballots to elect candidates ranging from president of the United States to soil and water conservation district supervisors.

Locally, two county commissioner posts and all three seats from the new Legislative District 23 are up for grabs.

At the top of the ballot, the two main candidates are incumbent Democratic President Barak Obama and his challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. But they're not the only candidates available. Rocky Anderson is running as an independent, as is Jill Stein, and Richard Duncan, a "non-party candidate" has qualified as a write-in. In addition, Virgil Goode is running at the head of the Constitution Party and Gary Johnson leads the ballot for the Libertarian Party.

The only other national office on the local ballot is that for Second District congressman, where incumbent Republican Mike Simpson is being challenged by Democrat Nicole LeFavour.

There are no state-wide offices up for election this year, but all the legislative seats are on the ballot. The new District 23, created after this spring's redistricting battle, created a district composed of all of Elmore and Owyhee counties and five rural precincts in Twin Falls County.

For the legislative senate seat, Republican Bert Brackett is being challenged by independent Bill Chisholm. Brackett previously served as a legislator from Twin Falls County under the old legislative districts.

For District 23 House Seat A in the state legislature, Republican incumbent Rich Wills is being challenged by Democrat Jody Bickle.

In the race for House Seat B, incumbent Republican Pete Nielsen is being challenged by Democrat Pam Chiarella.

At the county level, the retirement of long-time county commissioner Arlie Shaw has opened the door for at least one newcomer to join the county commissioners.

In the open race for First District, Republican Franklin "Bud" Corbus is running against independent Larry "Slick" Jewett.

For the Third District commissioner's seat, incumbent Republican Al Hofer is being challenged by Democrat Mike Crawford.

Republican Sheriff Rick Layher and Democratic Prosecuting Attorney Kristina Schindele are running unopposed for their jobs.

Three positions are open for the supervisor positions of the Elmore Soil and Water Conservation District, and three candidates are running, Kip Crowley, John Kieffer and Steve Nemeth.

The non-partisan judicial ballot asks voters if they want each of the county's two magistrate judges, David Epis and George Hicks, to be retained or not.

There are two constitutional amendments on the ballot.

SJR 102 asks voters if the constitution should be amended "to provide that the state board of correction shall have the control, direction and management of adult felony probation and parole." Essentially, it's a clarification that adds the word felony to the existing state constitution, leaving misdemeanor cases to be handled by the county.

HJR 2aa would clarify the constitutional right to hunt and fish (and trap) in Idaho and makes those methods "a preferred means of managing wildlife."

Three of the most controversial items on the ballot involve key provisions of the so-called Luna Laws, named after the state superintendent of public instruction who helped craft them and push them through the legislature two years ago.

A "yes" vote on a proposition means a voter wants the current law upheld, while a "no" vote wants to repeal the legislature's action.

Proposition 1 primarily ends renewable teacher contracts and severely limits the items that teachers can negotiate with school boards to essentially just salaries, while ending fact-finding arbitration in any negotiation disputes.

Proposition 2 is essentially designed to divert some money from the general teacher salary pool to be used for "pay for performance" bonuses based on state-mandated test scores (in reading, writing and mathematics only, not other classes). It also allows the bonus money to be used for hard-to-fill positions and some leadership posts.

Proposition 3 essentially cuts funding for teachers who would be replaced, in part, by two required on-line classes during the four years a student is in high school.

The funding cuts will be used to pay for laptop computers that would be provided for every student in the state.