Citizens’ rights ‘stifled’? Idaho Supreme Court to rule on stricter ballot initiative law
The Idaho Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments on whether a new law that makes it harder to place citizen-led initiatives on the ballot passes constitutional muster.
Reclaim Idaho, a grass-roots organization that spearheaded the successful Medicaid expansion initiative in 2018, sued the Legislature in May, shortly after lawmakers passed the new bill.
Questions from the justices on Tuesday focused largely on whether citizens had a fundamental right to place initiatives on the ballot and whether the Legislature exceeded its limitations on how difficult to make the process.
Deborah Ferguson, an attorney representing Reclaim Idaho, said the bill was intended to snuff out a constitutional right in the state under the “guise” that it would help rural voters.
“Whatever the legal test is, the heart of this case is the severe burden Senate Bill 1110 requires with no true purpose,” Ferguson said. Without the court’s prompt action, she said, “the right really has been completely stifled.”
With the new law, a petition to put an initiative on the ballot would have to include 6% of registered voters in each of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts. Prior to the change, the state required that signatures come from 6% of voters in at least 18 districts, and 6% of voters statewide.
In the past 10 years, only two citizen-led initiatives have made it on Idaho’s general election ballot. Ferguson told justices that was two out of the 15 attempted, and argued that a 90% failure rate shows that getting an initiative to voters “is already near impossible” with current standards.
But Justice Robyn Brody questioned whether those initiatives failed because of the 18-district requirement.
Idaho Supreme Court justices question how restrictive process can be
Deputy Attorney General Megan Larrondo said a measure currently could qualify for the ballot by gathering signatures from just four counties that encompass 18 legislative districts. A requirement to have all 35 legislative districts included is the only way to ensure all Idaho minority interests aren’t trammeled by the majority, she said.
Justice Gregory Moeller questioned Larrondo on that stance.
“The underlying thesis behind that argument, then, is the Legislature does a better job of protecting minority rights and can be trusted with that better than the people can,” Moeller said. “Isn’t that the core of the argument?”
Larrondo said it’s a question of checks and balances inherent in a republic. Previous courts have ruled that the Legislature must show a legitimate state interest in the law, and the 35-district requirement has that, she argued.
The state’s attorneys also argued that the people have a constitutional right to place an initiative on the ballot only by the process the Legislature determines. When pushed by Justice John Stegner, Larrondo conceded that might be unconstitutional because a previous court ruled that the process must be “reasonable and workable.”
But that was not the question in this case, she argued.
“Reclaim Idaho has not provided sufficient evidence … to establish that the Legislature has made the process impossible,” Larrondo said.
William Myers, an attorney representing the Idaho Legislature, said Reclaim Idaho has painted a “false dichotomy” of the people versus the Legislature. Myers pointed out that the people elect state legislators to represent them.
If Idaho residents decide that the initiative process is too restrictive, they have a recourse available — voting their legislators out of office, Myers said.
In a statement to supporters, Luke Mayville, co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, said the hearing was “reassuring.”
“It was clear that the justices are treating the issue of initiative rights with the urgency it deserves,” Mayville said. “As was true before today, we continue to have good reason to believe we will prevail in this case.”
No time frame has been set for the Supreme Court’s further deliberation or decision on the case.
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 3:49 PM.
