Proposed Republican legislation exposes the fairy tale of democracy in Idaho

Once upon a time there was a state legislature in a small state in America called Idaho where voters elected members to the legislature to represent the people of the state. They called their form of government a democracy or more precisely, a republic, because the people elected their representatives who then voted in the best interests of their constituents.

Laying bare the fairy tale version of democracy, too often today’s Republican legislators act to suppress voting. They act instead on behalf of powerful interests who finance their campaigns and dictate how they vote. When not driven by their campaign contributions and the lobbyists who deliver the goods, they vote out of self-preservation, giving incumbents an enormous advantage over challengers not as attuned to the vagaries of election law.

One example of how incumbents carefully and skillfully guard their incumbency is a bill recently passed out of committee on a partisan vote in the Idaho House that would profoundly affect the Idaho primary on May 17, 2022. The bill would affect more than 310,000 unaffiliated voters in Idaho, those who have not chosen to register as Republican or Democrat, or have not yet done so. Idaho’s current laws have traditionally allowed unaffiliated voters to choose to affiliate when they show up to vote on Election Day so they can vote in that primary.

This new law would not only eliminate the Election Day option, requiring them to affiliate by March 11, two full months before the May 17 primary, but it also contains an emergency clause to make it immediately effective. By the time it would be signed into law, voters would have just days to learn about the change and act. Doing something this hastily reveals just how little the security of elections has to do with their intentions and actions and how little they care about the voters they were elected to serve.

Primaries are nothing more than run-off elections, but Republicans chose to control their run-off elections by limiting participation only to those who are willing to identify with the Republican Party. Only one party in Idaho restricts access to its primary by requiring registration as a Republican. The Democratic primary is open to all who call for a Democratic ballot on the May 17 primary election date. Republican legislators have been quoted in the media that changing party affiliation is “gaming the system.” Do they not understand that as candidates change, voters’ minds can change, and our election laws should provide for that?

This is more about guaranteeing the success of far-right Republicans. It’s about protecting legislators whose support and marching orders come from the dark money raised by the Idaho Freedom Foundation. Forget the voter who votes issues and candidates more than party. With this new law anyone who was unaffiliated but this year is leaning Republican and wants to take a Republican ballot in the May primary will likely not be able to do so with so little notice and time to act.

Republican legislators are also scheming to restrict Idaho’s elections with a bill that would eliminate Idaho’s same-day registration at the polls and deny voters the ability to vote via a voter affidavit verifying their identity at the polls. So if your voter registration was erroneously removed from the records, you would most likely only learn of it on Election Day and be unable to vote.

Representatives who claim they vote in the interests of their constituents sometimes write laws that work more to the benefit of incumbents. Just recently, Republican Rep. Brent Crane, of Nampa, introduced legislation to narrow the window required for candidates to file their papers of candidacy, cutting it in half to only five days, which will affect challengers who may not be as grounded in election law as incumbents.

Rep. Crane was asked by a fellow legislator to delete the clause making the law effective for this year’s primary because potential challengers may not be following the workings of the legislature that carefully. He refused, removing even a shred of doubt as to his intentions making it more difficult this year for challengers to file as candidates.

When legislators are not scheming to limit voter participation, they are carrying out the wishes of those who have economic power over many Idahoans who do not have access to the corridors of power and their elected representatives.

The recent vote to deny cities the right to place a limit on rental applications is a case in point. Never in Boise’s history has there been such a steady climb in rental rates, affecting many who live on the margin and are having great difficulty finding housing they can afford.

The Boise City Council’s ordinance to limit a prospective tenant’s application fee to $30 and assure that landlords have a unit available to rent within 30 days of accepting the fee would be dead in the water if this bill passes. The legislature’s action preempting cities from coming to the rescue of renters who are struggling with the lack of affordable housing is beyond troubling.

Once again, casting serious doubt on the fairy tale version of democracy, failed gubernatorial candidate and former Congressman Raul Labrador’s law firm represents the Idaho Apartment Association advocating for free rein in rental application fees. That’s the same Raul Labrador who failed with his gubernatorial bid and is now a candidate in the Republican primary to unseat Attorney General Lawrence Wasden.

These legislators, many of whom profess to be Christian, might remember words in the book of Matthew: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Is there any better reminder to people of faith who sit in the legislature that there are moments when they can do nothing more productive than get out of the way? Boise’s measure allows those closest to the challenges of living in an unaffordable housing market to deal with it.

Too often, the workings of the Idaho legislature stray far from the fairy tale version of democracy and representative government Idahoans are fed from the bully pulpit and in our classrooms across Idaho. Legislators have no problem chasing after trumped up tales of critical race theory in our schools and decrying diversity and inclusion on our college and university campuses.

Maybe someone needs to focus on whether that fairy tale version of democracy we were taught in school makes any sense as we watch the Idaho legislature in action today.

This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 4:00 AM.