ENTERPRISE — As ballots continued to trickle into the Wallowa County Courthouse, proponents of the Greater Idaho ballot measure in the May 16 election were confident enough to declare victory Thursday, May 25.

As of Tuesday, May 30, Ballot Measure 32-007 held an eight-vote lead out of nearly 3,500 votes cast: The count was 1,752 to 1,744.

Wallowa County Clerk Sandy Lathrop said last week that six challenged ballots remain before the count can be completed. A challenged ballot typically is a case in which a voter forgot to sign the ballot envelope or the signature does not match the one on file in the elections office. Voters have until Tuesday, June 6 to “cure” those challenges.

But even if all six of those ballots voted against the Greater Idaho measure, it presumably would still pass by a two-vote margin.

An automatic recount remains a possibility.

The final Election Day report is due to the secretary of state’s office on June 30.

The ballot measure directs the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners to meet once each August and each February to discuss the county’s interests in relocating the state border.

Generally, it is assumed this would mean looking toward including Wallowa County within Idaho, but the ballot measure does not specify a state. It also does not say how long the commissioners must continue to hold such meetings.

The next step will be for the commissioners to schedule a meeting to discuss the issue in August.

A press release from Greater Idaho proponents noted that similar measures now have been approved in 12 Oregon counties.

This is the second time that a Greater Idaho measure has been on the Wallowa County ballot: A 2020 measure that would have had the commissioners discuss Greater Idaho three times a year failed by 46 votes.