Ranked choice voting, open primaries? This new ballot initiative would bring both to Idaho
Idaho voters could soon decide whether to have open primary elections and whether to choose candidates in order of preference, through a burgeoning method called ranked choice voting.
A coalition of Idaho groups on Tuesday filed a ballot measure to enact both policies. The “Open Primaries Initiative” seeks to “create a nonpartisan primary system,” open to all voters, said a news release from the coalition, which is calling itself “Idahoans for Open Primaries.”
The Idaho Republican Party closed its primary election in 2012, meaning only registered Republicans can vote in the election that produces most successful candidates for statewide elections in the heavily conservative state. The Idaho Democratic Party has an open primary, so anyone can participate regardless of party affiliation.
“There are 200,000 voters in Idaho who are independent like me, and we’re blocked from voting in Idaho’s most important primary elections,” Debbie Reid-Oleson, a Blackfoot rancher who was one of the first 20 people to sign the initiative, said in the release. “It’s wrong that we’re forced to join a political party just to exercise our right to vote.”
On Tuesday, the group delivered the text of the proposal along with its first 20 signatures to the Idaho secretary of state’s office, which will review the initiative.
“Idahoans for Open Primaries” is a partnership between Reclaim Idaho, the Idaho Task Force of Veterans for Political Innovation, North Idaho Women, Represent US Idaho and the Hope Coalition. Each of the groups work toward curbing partisanship in Idaho politics, supporting democratic values or pushing for qualified political candidates, according to the release.
Initiative would repeal recent ban on ranked choice voting
The initiative also would create a “top four” primary election, wherein all candidates from each party participate in the same primary and the top four vote-getters advance to the general election. Voters would then choose the winner through ranked choice voting, which was banned in Idaho this year.
The method allows voters to rank candidates in their preferred order. A candidate who collects more than 50% of first-place votes wins the election. But if no candidate reaches that threshold, a runoff counting process is triggered. The candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated, and their votes are reallocated to the candidates listed second. That process repeats until a candidate surpasses 50%.
“This is a simple, common-sense reform that will give us better elections and better leadership,” former Republican Idaho House Speaker Bruce Newcomb said in the release.
The alternative voting method is gaining momentum across the country. It’s now used in 62 jurisdictions nationwide, Stateline recently reported. Alaska and Maine use ranked choice voting in statewide elections, and New York City uses it for local races. Nevada voters in November passed a ballot measure establishing ranked choice voting for federal and statewide elections.
Republicans in Congress derided ranked choice voting after U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, defeated two GOP contestants in a November House election.
Idaho GOP lawmakers banned ranked choice voting this year. House Bill 179, from Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls, and Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood, prohibited ranked choice voting in local, state and federal elections held in Idaho. Republican Gov. Brad Little signed the bill after it sailed through the Legislature nearly along party lines.
Hawkins in February told a House committee that prohibiting ranked choice voting would maintain simplicity and consistency in Idaho’s electoral process.
“This action is preemptive so that we don’t have to deal with this in the future,” Hawkins told the House State Affairs Committee.
If successful, the ballot initiative would repeal the new law. The Idahoans for Open Primaries news release pointed to recent surveys from Utah and Alaska, where most voters polled said ranked choice voting elections were simple and easy to understand.
Idahoans for Open Primaries hopes to place the initiative on the ballot for the November 2024 election. In order to qualify, the group must collect signatures from 6% of Idaho voters who were registered for the last general election — nearly 63,000 — along with signatures from 6% of registered voters in 18 of 35 legislative districts. The deadline is May 1, 2024.
The group’s leaders said they plan to start collecting signatures next month.
This story was originally published May 2, 2023 at 9:51 AM.
