You don't need to know; just sign!

The Reclaim Idaho Town Hall meeting this past Tuesday evening was an eye-opener. I was honestly stunned when the crowd said it is not important to provide clear information to voters poised to sign an initiative.

Even as I write these words, I am still amazed.

The meeting started with opening remarks by each person on the panel with me, former Justice Jim Jones, Rep. Jim Addis and Rep. Paul Amador. The community room in the library was full of energetic, focused people anxious to talk about the initiative process in Idaho.

After assuring everyone that I am deeply committed to the initiative process in Idaho, I asked for audience suggestions to make our initiative law better. My remarks centered on the need to provide three basic points of information for those signing the petition and voting on the ballot:

1. What will the initiative do?

2. How much will it cost the state and taxpayers?

3. This initiative, if successful, will bypass the Legislature and governor.

The audience was adamant. They want absolutely no changes to the current law. When I asked them, as a group, to clap if they do not want even basic information included on the petition and ballot, at least 75% of the crowd applauded. One woman yelled out, “They don’t need to know, it’s just a petition!”

Oh my.

We didn’t even delve into the topic of technology and how it is rapidly and dramatically changing elections and initiatives across the country. I brought it up in my opening remarks, but a wave of disbelief flooded back from the hardworking volunteers on the recently successful Prop 2. They gathered their signatures the old-fashioned way and are rightfully proud of their accomplishment. But, truth be told, the only way Prop 2 got enough signatures to qualify for the ballot was when, near the deadline, high tech political experts swooped in from back East with digital know how and $500,000 to lift them over the finish line.

That’s the future of initiatives. Very high-tech methods of fast, efficient signature gathering. They use big money to do in-depth targeting of specific populations that will support their initiative. They have direct contact ability using highly proprietary databases, gather groups together for promotional events, and, by the way, please sign the petition. After the initiative is on the ballot, that’s when the major funding arrives to pay for all manner of advertising to garner votes, again specifically profiling individuals likely to support. And that’s only the part I know about, I’m sure there’s much more evolving every day.

What should the Legislature do about this? The Idaho Constitution says government is instituted for the equal protection and benefit of the people. Updating our initiative law to respond to national realities and providing clear information for voters on initiative signature pages and the ballot would be a good start. Knowledge is power.

- • •

Senator Mary Souza represents District 4, which is Coeur d’Alene. Email: MSouza@senate.idaho.gov