Open primaries initiative has enough signatures to qualify for November ballot
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Kyle Pfannenstiel, Idaho Capital Sun
(Idaho Capital Sun) — A ballot initiative to end Idaho’s closed primary elections and create a ranked-choice voting system for the general election has enough signatures to appear on the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office announced Wednesday.
In Idaho, ballot initiatives are a form of direct democracy where the people vote on whether or not to pass a law, independent of the Idaho Legislature.
To qualify for the November election, supporters needed to gather signatures from at least 6% of registered voters statewide and from at least 6% of voters in at least 18 of the state’s legislative districts. To meet the statewide total, open primary supporters needed about 63,000 signatures in total.
Signatures for the ballot initiative were first verified by Idaho county clerk’s offices, according to a news release. Members of the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition submitted their signatures to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office for final verification last week.
The Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition includes Reclaim Idaho, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Veterans for Idaho Voters, Republicans for Open Primaries and thousands of volunteers.
“It’s a tremendous achievement for our campaign. Over 2,000 volunteers worked to make this happen. They did it because they believe that all voters, regardless of party affiliation, should be able to participate in every Idaho election,” Idahoans for Open Primaries spokesperson Luke Mayville told the Sun in an interview on Wednesday.
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Arguments in favor and against the initiative are due to the Secretary of State’s Office by 11:59 p.m. Mountain time on July 20, the agency said in a news release. The initiative’s language and selected pro and con arguments will be in a voter pamphlet, which Idaho voters will receive before the general election, the release said.
The Idaho Republican Party is officially against the initiative.
How does the open primary ballot initiative work?
Under a 2011 state law, political parties do not have to allow anyone who is not formally affiliated with their party to vote in their primary elections.
The initiative seeks to end the closed primary election law that allows political parties to keep independents and other voters from voting in their primary elections. The law also allows parties to choose to open their primary election to other voters if they notify the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office, but only the Democratic Party has opened its primary election. The Republican, Constitution Party and Libertarian primary elections were all closed, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office has previously said.
Instead of closed primaries, the initiative would create a single open primary election that all candidates and all voters would participate in. Under that open primary system, the four candidates that receive the most votes would all advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
“We are confident that once voters learn the facts about this initiative, they will be eager to vote for it. We’ve been at events in every region of the state. And everywhere we’ve heard the same thing, which is that it’s not right for voters to be forced to join a party just to exercise their right to vote,” Mayville said.
The ballot initiative would also change Idaho’s general elections by implementing a ranked-choice voting system that is sometimes referred to as an instant runoff.
Under that system, voters would pick their favorite candidate and have the option of ranking the remaining candidates in order of preference – second, third and fourth. The candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated, and their votes would instead be transferred to the second choice candidate on those voters’ ballots.
That process would continue until there are two candidates, and the candidate receiving the most votes would be elected the winner. Under that system, voters would only vote once.
Idaho Republican Party opposes open primary initiative
The Idaho Republican Party came out in opposition to ranked-choice voting during the secretive Idaho Republican State Convention last month in Coeur d’Alene. Meeting behind closed doors, delegates updated the Idaho Republican Party’s platform to specifically oppose ranked-choice voting. The platform reads: “The Idaho Republican Party opposes ranked-choice voting and any other iterations of ranked-choice voting such as STAR voting, ballot exhaustion and instant runoff.”
Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon could not be immediately reached for comment on Wednesday.
But in a July 3 editorial, Moon said ranked-choice voting “undermines the American concept of ‘one person, one vote,’” and “lacks the transparency needed to ensure our elections are secure.”
“Leftists have long been frustrated that Idaho is a conservative state. Having given up on changing hearts and minds with persuasive arguments, they now want to change the rules of the game. This is part of a long pattern of an insatiable thirst for power: mass mail-in ballots, gerrymandering, unmonitored drop boxes, and even allowing noncitizens to vote,” Moon wrote.
Moon wrote that she’s “confident that Idaho voters will reject this radical scheme in November.”
Even though the Idaho Republican Party voted to oppose ranked-choice voting in the party platform, not all Republicans oppose the initiative. Former Gov. Butch Otter, former Speaker of the Idaho House Bruce Newcomb and more than 100 Republican former office holders and voters have endorsed the ballot initiative.
“Ranked-choice voting is a common-sense reform that gives voters more choice and more voice. The ranking process is really as simple as counting to four. Wherever it’s been implemented, voters have found that it’s simple and easy to understand,” Mayville said.