Idaho open primaries supporters say they are on the brink of qualifying ballot initiative

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — Supporters of the proposed open primary ballot initiative in Idaho say they could be days away from surpassing the signature requirements to qualify their initiative for the November general election. 

Supporters have until May 1 to turn in signatures from 6% of registered Idaho voters statewide and from 6% of registered voters in 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts. In order to reach the statewide requirement, supporters need about 63,000 signatures.

Following a sunny St. Patrick’s Day weekend push of signature gathering events, supporters have gathered 71,742 signatures statewide and gathered enough signatures to qualify 17 of the required 18 legislative districts, Reclaim Idaho co-founder Luke Mayville said. Mayville said supporters are 196 signatures away from qualifying their 18th district. 

A coalition of supporters called Idahoans for Open Primaries is backing the initiative. The coalition includes the groups Veterans for Idaho Voters, Republicans for Open Primaries, North Idaho Women, the Hope Coalition, the Idaho Chapter of the Mormon Women for Ethical Government and Reclaim Idaho. Reclaim Idaho was behind the successful 2018 Medicaid expansion ballot initiative, which more than 60% of Idahoans voted for in Proposition 2. 

Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon and several Republican legislators including Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, have come out in opposition to the initiative, saying it benefits moderate candidates and adds confusion to the voting process. 

On Saturday, Amanda Stark of the Mormon Women for Ethical Government organization joined a group of 67 supporters who collected signatures in Caldwell. In a telephone interview, Stark said supporters gathered enough signatures to qualify Legislative District 11 as one of the required legislative districts supporters need to secure. 

“We’ve talked to independents, we’ve talked to Democrats and we’ve talked to Republicans who are just frustrated with the direction that things have gone in Idaho this last decade with the closed primary,” Stark said. “They’re frustrated, and they feel like they don’t have a voice. People have said, ‘I don’t vote because I don’t have anybody to vote for.’” 

Even though supporters believe they will soon have enough signatures, they will continue to collect signatures to give themselves a 20% to 30% buffer in case signatures are rejected or invalid, Mayville said. During the official review of the signatures by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office, signatures can be rejected if the signatures are illegible, the person who signs is not a registered voter or if the address listed on the petition does not match voter registration records. 

In Idaho, a ballot initiative is a form of direct democracy where the people propose and vote on a law themselves, independent of the Idaho Legislature. 

What would the open primary ballot initiative in Idaho do?

The state refers to the initiative as a top four primary and ranked choice voting initiative. 

If the initiative qualifies for the ballot and is approved by a simple majority of voters, it would make changes to Idaho’s primary and general elections. 

First, it would eliminate Idaho’s closed party primary elections and replace them with a single primary election that is open to all candidates and all voters, regardless of party affiliation. The top four vote-getters from the primary election, regardless of party affiliation, would advance to the general election. Idaho has had a closed primary law in place since 2011, which means that political parties do not have to let voters vote in their party’s primary election unless the voter is formally affiliated with that political party. The closed-primary law also allows political parties to notify the Secretary of State’s Office if it wishes to instead open its primary election to unaffiliated voters or all voters. In the most recent state primary election in 2022, only the Idaho Democratic Party had an open primary election. The Idaho Republican Party, Constitution Party and Libertarian Party all held closed primary elections, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office has previously told the Sun. 

The open primary initiative would also make changes to Idaho’s general election by replacing the current system with a ranked choice, or instant runoff, voting system. Under the ranked choice system, voters would select their favorite candidate and then have the option of ranking the remaining candidates in order of preference on their same ballot. In the general election, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated, and their votes would instead go to the second choice candidate marked on a voter’s ballot. That process would continue until there were two candidates remaining and the candidate with the most votes would be elected the winner. Under that system, Idaho voters would only vote once; there would not be multiple general elections. Voters’ second, third and fourth ranked choices would determine the instant runoff where the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are transferred to that voter’s next choice of candidate. 

Supporters say the initiative would open primary elections to 275,000 independent Idaho voters who are blocked from participating in the closed Republican primary election. Supporters also say the initiative would make candidates accountable to a much wider variety of Idaho voters. 

Stark, who gathered signatures Saturday in Caldwell, has been involved since the initiative launched last year. She described her conversations with voters as a breath of fresh air.

“We’re trying to create a better Idaho where everybody feels like they have a voice and are empowered and connected; where there are solutions,” Stark said.

Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon, some Idaho legislators oppose open primary and ranked choice voting

Opposition to the open primary initiative has been led by Moon, the chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party and some Republican legislators and party officials. 

“One person, one vote has been the American way of running elections since the dawn of our country, and the right of political parties to freely associate and choose their own nominees is built into the fabric of our laws,” Moon wrote in a Dec. 15 column. “This initiative seeks to dismantle both of those pillars, rigging the game for more leftist candidates.”

Barbieri was pushing a proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution that he said was intended to block ranked choice voting in Idaho. Barbieri said he wanted to protect a voting system with just one round of voting, where the most votes wins.

However, Barbieri’s proposed amendment died in the Idaho House on March 11. It requires a two-thirds majority vote from both the Idaho Senate and Idaho House to pass a constitutional amendment and bring it before voters. That meant Barbieri needed 47 votes in the Idaho House. However, the Idaho House voted 42-27 in favor of the amendment, killing it for the year. 

“What is going on here?” Moon wrote in a March 14 column that mentioned the resolution failing in the Idaho House. “Why are our Republican lawmakers constantly voting with Democrats against common sense conservative legislation?”

Opposition has appeared elsewhere as well. During the March 2 Idaho Republican Presidential Caucus, pamphlets encouraging voters not to sign the open primary petition were available at the Whittier Elementary in Boise and other caucus sites.

Despite opposition from Moon and the Idaho Republican Party, dozens of retired Republican officials have come out in public support of the open primary initiative, including former Gov. Butch Otter and first lady Lori Otter.