Idahoans for Open Primaries hold public discussion about Proposition 1 in Moscow

Proponents of Proposition 1 on November’s election ballot say open primaries and ranked choice voting will give every Idahoan a greater voice in elections and reduce the political partisanship in current elections. 

The group Idahoans for Open Primaries hosted a discussion about what it said are the benefits of passing Proposition 1 on Monday, Sept. 30 at the Kenworthy Theater in Moscow.  

Three special guests were at the event to represent different groups and talk about the positives of the bill along with answering any questions audience members had.  

The night began with an overview of the two-part bill. The first part is about open primaries in elections, meaning Idaho voters don’t have to declare their political party affiliation to vote in primary elections. There will be no ranking of candidates in the primary election; it is simply to choose the favored candidate and will not be limited to the Democratic or Republican parties.  

The second part of the bill will institute a ranked choice voting system during general elections. The top four candidates in the primary will move to the general election and voters can choose their candidates by rank. Ranked choice voting is a system that counts all the first choice votes and eliminates the candidate with the fewest first choice votes.  

If no candidate receives more than 51% of the votes, then the next round will begin and everyone who chose the candidate who lost in the first round will then have their vote count toward their second ranked choice. This process will continue until a majority leader emerges.  

Luke Mayville acted as the moderator of the event and gave an overview of the bill. Mayville is the executive director and co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, a grassroots organization that spearheaded the 2018 ballot initiative to expand Medicaid in Idaho.  

When discussing the core values of Proposition 1, Mayville said, “We believe every Idaho voter should have a real voice in our elective system.” With ranked choice voting, the Idahoans for Open Primaries believe each voter, regardless of political party affiliation, will have a stronger voice with the opportunity for a second-choice vote.  

Mayville then introduced the two other special guests, starting with Joe Stegner, a Republican in the Idaho Senate who served from 1998-2011 and acted as assistant majority leader. He is a Vandal alum and served as Special Assistant for State Government Relations for UI. 

Stegner was in the Idaho Senate when the closed primaries were instituted and said he voted. 

“In my opinion it was put into place to manipulate primary elections by making people declare their party affiliations and not allowing them choice of candidates other than whatever the party puts up,” Stegner said.  

The second special guest was Christie Wood, an Air Force veteran who retired as an Airman First Class before moving to law enforcement in Coeur d’Alene. Wood worked as a police officer for 26 years and currently serves as a city council member in Coeur d’Alene and board member of Veterans for Idaho Voters.  

During her introduction, Wood read several testimonies of Idaho veteran voters for the audience to understand how people with a military background are reacting to Proposition 1. One testimony said, “I could vote for the person and he or she addresses issues not for the party or the party line.”  

According to Wood, Idaho has the sixth highest number of veteran voters in the United States. With approximately 160,000 veterans in the state, most prefer to vote Independent and because of this, are unable to participate in primary elections without declaring a political party.  

After introductions and speeches, the event moved to a Q&A segment where audience members could ask for clarification and more details about Proposition 1.  

One audience member asked, “Why would people vote no? What are the negatives of the bill?” Mayville touched on the point of cost estimates, with one expert claiming it could cost as much as $40 million. Mayville countered this by saying Maine was able to implement a similar system without costing each voter more than a dollar. Utah was able to do it with a software update.  

Another member of the audience asked about the Alaskan system, where an open primary system was recently put into place and is already being challenged. The person wanted to know what the likelihood is that Idaho will go through all this work to get the bill passed only for it to be challenged.  

Mayville responded with, “Part of the reality of trying to reform things for the better [in a democracy] is that sometimes no victory is ever final.” 

Allyssa Dotson can be reached at [email protected].