Complex crossover politics

COEUR d’ALENE — The primary election season is becoming one of the most complex election seasons Kootenai County, or Idaho for that matter, has ever experienced.

“I have been talking with the Secretary of State’s office (Wednesday) to get this all straightened out,” said Kootenai County Clerk Jim Brannon. “And I’ll be darned if it isn’t getting muddier by the second.

“We are all trying to get clarity on this stuff.”

Brannon is referring to the way political parties are structuring their nomination processes to field their candidates for the presidential election in November.

While the Libertarian and Constitution Parties are likely to field candidates this year, it’s the way the Republican and Democratic parties have decided to nominate their candidates that is complicating the process.

In recent years, the Republicans have closed their primary election to only allow voters who have officially affiliated with the Republican Party at the county elections office.

The Republicans have also separated the Republican presidential primary election on March 8 from the May 17 Republican primary, which includes candidates running for state legislative and local offices.

Because there are two primary elections this spring, there are two deadlines for affiliating with the party to be eligible to vote in the Republican primaries. If a voter is already affiliated with a party, the deadline for the presidential party has already passed on Dec. 9, and the deadline for affiliating for May 17 primary is currently March 12.

Both of those primaries must adhere to state and local election laws.

However, the Idaho Legislature is considering moving that date to Feb 12 to prevent members of another party from affiliating as a Republican to vote in the presidential primary and then switching to another party to vote in the May 17 primaries.

“This proposed legislation is only going to impact the May primary,” Brannon said.

The Democrats, on the other hand, are holding a caucus on March 22 to select their candidates. That process is vastly different than a primary election and is done without any state or local oversight.

“They are not having a primary at all,” Brannon said. “They will choose their candidate with a caucus, and we don’t police that. It’s all done within the party."

Brannon said under current law it is possible that someone could vote in the Republican presidential primary on March 8, and then unaffiliate by March 12 to participate in the March 22 Democratic process and then affiliate as a Republican again to participate in the May 17 primary election.

Unaffiliated voters can affiliate with a party at their polling place. Only those who have previously affiliated with another party are subject to the affiliation deadlines.

He said changing the affiliation deadline from March 12 to Feb. 12 will close that loophole by not allowing voters to unaffiliate after the presidential primary if they want to participate in the May 17 primary election.

However, that may not necessarily stop a voter who has affiliated with the Republican Party from voting in the Republican presidential primary and the Democratic caucus because the caucus follows party rules and not the state or local election laws.

Chief Deputy Secretary of State Tim Hurst said the state doesn’t have the authority to impose state election laws on a party’s internal caucus process. And even if it can be proven that a voter did participate in both the presidential primary and the caucus, there is no legal penalty for that.

“It is not considered voter fraud,” Hurst said on Wednesday. “I suppose if someone is caught, the party chair could paint a red ‘T’ on their chest for being a traitor.”

In the past, Hurst said his office has requested a list of people who participated in the caucuses so they could cross-reference those names with the people who voted in the Republican primaries, but the party refused to give up the names because they consider it proprietary information.

“It’s the party’s caucus and we have nothing to do with it,” Hurst said.

Paula Neils, chairwoman of the Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee, said the party doesn’t require caucus participants to officially affiliate with their party at the county election office, but they do require participants to sign a pledge.

“One of the statements on that pledge is that we reserve the right to publish the names of the participants in the newspaper,” she said, adding the process is basically an honor system. “If they are elected as delegates, then we will publish their names for sure.”

Neils said that process seems to work for the party very well, and she doubts very many Democrats are going to cross over to vote for the Republican presidential primary anyway.

“I don’t think any self-respecting Democrat would think their vote is going to count in the presidential primary anyway,” she said, adding there are some Democrats who do cross over to vote in the May 17 primary, however.

“The Republicans are so strong in Idaho, I don't know why they are worried about that anyway,” she said.

Dave Johnston, executive director of the state Republican Party, said he doubts very many people will make an effort to cross over and vote in another party’s election anyway.

Johnston said the Democrats have been criticizing his party for closing its primaries, but in his opinion the Democratic caucus process is far more of a closed system.

“For them to say that we are trying to limit participation in the primary is plain wrong,” he said. “It is contrarian of them to bash us for a closed primary when their caucus process is closed too.”