A Magic Valley businessman admitted Tuesday in Blaine County Magistrate Court to attempting to vote twice in the November 2008 general election.
Walter A. Coiner, a 56-year-old Ketchum resident and an owner of Hollyberry Nursery in Hansen, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of "attempting to vote when not qualified." He was earlier charged with the felony crime of illegal voting, an offense punishable in Idaho by up to five years in prison.
The Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office had alleged that Coiner voted in 2008 by absentee ballot in Twin Falls County and again in person in Blaine County.
After Coiner pleaded guilty, Judge Jason Walker sentenced him to one-year unsupervised probation and 40 hours community service. Coiner was also fined $300 plus $75 court costs. The crime of "attempting to vote when not qualified" is punishable in Idaho by up to six months in jail.
The sentence was in accord with the recommendation of the prosecuting attorney's office.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback acknowledged during the hearing that Coiner has no prior criminal record and had been cooperative with authorities throughout the case.
Coiner declined to comment to the Idaho Mountain Express following the hearing.
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Coiner's guilty plea was in accord with a plea agreement reached Monday afternoon with the prosecuting attorney's office.
Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas said in an interview following Tuesday's hearing that the case against Coiner was developed when a Blaine County voting clerk discovered Coiner's name "by happenstance" on voting records in both Twin Falls and Blaine County.
"He pleaded guilty to attempting to vote twice, even though he [actually] did vote twice," Thomas said. "I don't know if it was a mistake, but I wanted to call him out on it and make an example of it. The idea of one person, one vote kind of goes to the heart of our sense of democracy."
"The curious thing in this case is why—it's not going to change the outcome," he said.
Thomas said the case illustrates a "flaw in Idaho's voting system."
"Basically, all you need to do on the day of voting is to bring in a utility bill," Thomas said. "Conceivably, someone could own property in five counties and vote five times."
Blaine County court records list Coiner as a Hansen resident, though he and his wife also maintain a home in Ketchum.
In Blaine County, Coiner is a supervisor of the Sun Valley Ski and Snowboard School and is listed as president of the board of the North Intermountain Division of the Professional Ski Instructors of America.
He is also a member of the Twin Falls County Tree Commission and a relative of Charles Coiner, a Republican state senator from Twin Falls County.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
