EDITORIAL: Petition drive's progress alarms power brokers
One signature at a time, the death grip on Idaho elections is weakening.
The forces that have brought you wave upon wave of UTG candidates — Unfit To Govern — are desperately trying to quash a citizen-led charge to change Idaho’s primary election system.
The terror these UTG forces feel is real, not imagined. If the doors to closed Republican primaries are forced open to allow Independents to help choose candidates for general elections, the extremists now running roughshod over productive, fair governance will lose power; power that will transfer immediately to the people, where it belonged all along.
The elbow grease to open the closed-primary door is a petition drive now underway statewide. Various groups representing the entire political spectrum — fueled largely by conscientious Republicans and Independents — are pushing the petition drive toward its April 30, 2024, deadline.
While 63,000 valid signatures are needed to get the measure on the ballot so Idaho voters can make their own decision about the initiative's merits, 45,000 signatures have already been gathered in the drive’s first four months. But this is no time for Idahoans to take their feet off the accelerator.
To get an initiative on the ballot, at least 6% of voters in 18 or more legislative districts is also needed to meet the state’s requirements. By itself, the 63,000 total signatures are not enough.
Last week, the citizens of Bonner and Boundary counties celebrated pushing Legislative District 1 into the 6% end zone. According to Luke Mayville on behalf of Idahoans for Open Primaries, the petition drive in Kootenai County is going well.
Countywide, 1,734 valid signatures had been logged as of Thursday. Legislative District 4, with 984 signatures, is well on its way to becoming one of the 18 needed districts, Mayville told The Press.
Statewide, supporters are shooting for 50,000 signatures by Dec. 31 and hoping to turn in a whopping 100,000 signatures by next April 30. So far, so good.
On its opinion and op-ed pages, The Press has for several months presented people's arguments both for and against the Open Primary Initiative. In our view, the pros for a primary system that welcomes the state’s 270,000 independent voters far outweigh any negatives. Voter participation will increase and radical, unqualified candidates will face a far harder time rising to power.
No matter how you feel about the initiative itself, please consider signing a petition. Signing a petition doesn't mean you support the initiative — only that you want citizens, not courts or politicians, to make that important determination.
For more information: openprimariesid.org