It’s a busy fall for Phil McGrane, Idaho Secretary of State and alumnus of the School of Public Service at Boise State University’s Master of Public Administration program. He’s been doing it all – from working around the clock to help inform Idaho voters this election season to making an appearance at a recent Bronco football game racing beloved Boise State Tee Dog, Blitz. At a recent School of Public Service event, McGrane shared candid stories and expertise from his career in voting processes and civic engagement. Right after graduating with his undergraduate degree, McGrane worked as an Election Specialist for Ada County, where he trained poll workers and helped to count ballots. He is a self-described “elections nerd” who now, as Secretary of State, takes on the responsibility of helping to build voters’ trust in the government– which he sees as one of his primary missions in the role.
A concern on many voters’ minds this year is the security of election processes. McGrane’s belief is that voters shouldn’t have to worry whether the government is administering fair and secure elections. “You should be able to go vote and not really have to think about what the process is like,” he said. He’s worked in his role to help strengthen this trust in several ways, sharing the fact that he helped to implement the use of cameras in Idaho ballot processing warehouses, and that Idaho elections are conducted on a system with no connection to the internet. Additional security measures include the requirements for all Idaho voters to show a form of valid identification when they arrive at the polls, all Idahoans to vote on a paper ballot, and the state of Idaho to engage in post-election audits and recounts to ensure that results are accurate.
When talking about election administration processes, McGrane made the point that Ada County Elections is technically the largest event planning organization in the state. They serve over 300,000 people on election day at a total of 61 locations. He emphasized that to ensure a smooth election process, everything must run like a well-oiled machine.
McGrane ended his talk in Boise with a touching reference to his father, who, on the day he assumed office as Idaho Secretary of State, gifted him with a copy of the constitution that he had written entirely by hand. In this way, he always holds the values of democracy close. Boise State’s School of Public Service is proud to call Phil McGrane an alumnus.