Idaho House GOP opposes Prop 1 ballot initiative, may repeal or amend it if voters pass it

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — The Idaho House of Representatives may consider amending or repealing the Proposition 1 ballot initiative if voters pass it Nov. 5, two influential GOP legislators told the Idaho Capital Sun.

During the Nov. 5 general election, Idaho voters will vote on Proposition 1, a ballot initiative that would end closed party primary elections in Idaho and create ranked-choice voting in the general election. It would take a simple majority of votes on Election Day to be approved.

If voters approve Proposition 1, it would become law, and legislators would be able to amend it or repeal it just like any other law passed by the Idaho Legislature.

That has happened before. In 1994, Idaho voters approved a ballot initiative creating term limits for elected officials in Idaho, but the Idaho Legislature repealed the term limits law and even voted to override a 2002 gubernatorial veto in order to keep term limits repealed. 

The Idaho Legislature is scheduled to convene for the 2025 legislative session Jan. 6, just nine weeks after voters vote on Proposition 1. 

Supporters of the initiative argue that if legislators block or repeal the initiative after voters approve it they would be going against the will of the voters.

Idaho House Senate Republicans are already on record against the initiative and some are digging in. In 2023, the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 179, which prohibits ranked-choice voting. If Proposition 1 passes, it would repeal House Bill 179. House Republicans also provided the official argument against the initiative in the Idaho Voters Pamphlet that state officials mailed to all registered voters in the state in September.

In interviews with the Sun last week, House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, described scenarios where the Republican-controlled Idaho House could consider amending or repealing the initiative even if voters approve it.

“If voters pass it and we have what’s happening now where people who signed the initiative say, ‘that’s not what they told me it did,’ if enough people have been misled, then I think that there would be an opportunity there to fix it,” Moyle said. “But I hope the voters do their research and kill this thing.”

In August, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador filed suit attempting to block the ballot initiative from going up for a vote after Labrador alleged that the supporters of the ballot initiative committed fraud by misleading voters who signed the initiative. But in September, District Judge Patrick J. Miller dismissed Labrador’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that Labrador’s own evidence negated the argument that the initiative supporters made false statements to thousands of people who signed the initiative. 

Prop 1 supporters say opponents aren’t addressing real problems

Hyrum Erickson, a Republican precinct committee officer from Rexburg who supports the Proposition 1 ballot initiative, said many of the opponents’ arguments don’t hold up. Erickson said the biggest problem with the current system is that more than 268,000 unaffiliated registered Idaho voters aren’t allowed to vote in closed party primary elections. Because of closed primaries and the lack of competitive general elections in many areas of deeply conservative Idaho, Erickson said a slim minority of primary election voters are able to decide who holds power in the state.

“The current system distorts election outcomes in a way that makes outcomes inconsistent with the preferences of voters,” Erickson said in a phone interview. “And Proposition 1 fixes that by ensuring every voter can vote in every state-funded election.”

Moyle told the Sun he opposes ranked-choice voting and doesn’t believe the initiative is about open primaries. Moyle uses the terms top four primary and jungle primary.
“The proponents keep selling it as open primaries, but that’s not what it is,” Moyle said. “It’s top-four in the primary and then you end up with ranked-choice in the general where you sit around and have a computer tell you who the winner is.”

Erickson said some opponents are simply arguing over definitions. Erickson said Proposition 1 is a type of open primary ballot initiative because the primary election would be open to all voters and all candidates, regardless of party affiliation.

“It’s an attempt to argue about definitions rather than address problems with the current system and the benefits that would flow from Proposition 1,” Erickson said. 

Idaho legislator expresses concerns about potential cost of replacing voting equipment

Horman also thinks the Idaho House would consider amending or repealing Proposition 1 if voters approve it. Citing a July 3 letter from Secretary of State Phil McGrane to legislative leaders, Horman said she believes the fiscal impact statement attached to the ballot initiative is inaccurate. The fiscal impact statement says 17 counties need to purchase election management software at an estimated cost of $300,000 to $600,000. In his July 3 letter McGrane said it could cost the state at least $25 million to $40 million if the state needs to replace all of its vote tabulation equipment to process ranked-choice ballots. 

“I believe they will (consider amending or repealing the initiative) if voters are making a decision without accurate information about how it will impact the state budget, if they are making an uninformed vote,” Horman said in a phone interview. “To have the secretary of state come out with what he believes are the actual costs of between $25 million and $40 million – I know who I trust in that conversation, and it’s the secretary of state whose life work is elections. I have a problem with the fiscal representation of what this will cost Idahoans from their pocketbooks.”

Horman is co-chair of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, a powerful legislative committee that sets each element of the state budget.

Luke Mayville, a spokesperson for the Idahoans for Open Primaries campaign, said he believes the state doesn’t have to pay millions of dollars to replace its voting equipment because the software identified in the fiscal impact statement could be certified to use in Idaho. Mayville is a co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, the group that sponsored the successful 2018 Medicaid expansion ballot initiative. Supporters have also pointed out that states such as Alaska and Maine have been able to implement ranked-choice voting.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little opposes Proposition 1

Gov. Brad Little made his opposition to Proposition 1 clear in an email newsletter sent Friday. 

“I am opposed to ranked-choice voting and signed House Bill 179 in 2023 banning it in Idaho,” Little wrote Friday. “We must promote voting practices that are clear, increase voter participation, and don’t undermine confidence in our elections and ranked choice voting meets none of those standards. Idahoans will make their voices heard on Proposition 1 at the ballot box in November. As for me, I will not be supporting Proposition 1.”

Little’s predecessor, former Gov. Butch Otter, publicly endorsed the ballot initiative in September 2023. Otter said he supports the initiative because it will end closed party primary elections. 

“Every registered voter should have the right to weigh in on choosing our leaders,” Otter said at a press conference in September 2023. “Independents, including a lot of military veterans, have been excluded from having their say because of the closed GOP primary.”

How does Proposition 1 work?

If approved Proposition 1 would change primary and general elections in Idaho. 

Proposition 1 would repeal Idaho’s closed party primary elections and replace them with one nonpartisan primary election that is open to all candidates and all voters, regardless of party affiliation. The four candidates with the most votes would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.

For the general election, Proposition 1 would create ranked-choice voting, which is sometimes called an instant runoff system. Voters would still vote for their favorite candidate, and they would have the option to rank the remaining candidates in order of preference – second choice, third and fourth. Voters would not be required to rank all four candidates, and their ballot will still be counted if they do not rank all of the candidates.

Under that system, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated and their votes would be transferred to the next highest ranked candidate on those ballots. That process would continue until there are two candidates left, and the candidate with the most votes would be elected the winner.