Idaho AG refiles lawsuit seeking to block open primaries ballot initiative

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has refiled his lawsuit seeking to block the ballot initiative that aims to end closed party primary elections from going up for a vote in the Nov. 5 general election. 

Labrador filed the suit in Ada County District Court on Friday, two days after the Idaho Supreme Court dismissed an earlier version of Labrador’s lawsuit on procedural grounds. Labrador alleges that supporters and signature gatherers misrepresented the ballot initiative and fraudulently obtained the signatures used to qualify the initiative for the election.

“This coalition obtained thousands of signatures for the initiative by telling Idahoans it would restore the open primary system Idaho had before 2011, even after the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that claim was false and that the initiative’s primary system is ‘significantly different’ than an open primary,” Labrador said in a written statement. “In reality, the initiative abolishes party primaries and institutes ranked-choice voting in the general election — an unpopular and complicated system that many petition signers did not know was included in the initiative and would not support on its own.”

The supporters of the ballot initiative, which is known as Proposition 1, disagreed, saying that Labrador is using the court system to prevent voters from deciding whether the initiative should pass.

“AG Labrador is doing everything in his power to interfere with the election and deny voters a voice,” Luke Mayville, a spokesperson for Idahoans for Open Primaries, said in a written statement. “Fortunately for Idaho voters, Labrador’s case is baseless and his desperate attempt is certain to fail again. The people of Idaho, not the Attorney General, will decide in November whether Idaho should restore the right of all voters — including independents — to participate in every taxpayer-funded election.”

Mayville is the co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, which sponsored the successful 2018 Medicaid expansion ballot initiative that more than 60% of Idaho voters approved. 

In Idaho, a ballot initiative is a form of direct democracy where the voters decide whether or not to pass a new law, completely independent of the Idaho Legislature. It takes a simple majority of votes on Election Day to pass a ballot initiative. 

If the Proposition 1 ballot initiative passes, it would make changes to both primary elections and general elections.

First, it would end Idaho’s closed party primary elections and replace them with a single top-four primary election that is open to all candidates and all voters, regardless of party affiliation. The top four candidates who received the most votes would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. 

Second, it would replace Idaho’s general election with ranked-choice voting, which is sometimes called an instant runoff. Under that system, voters would pick their favorite candidate and then have the option of ranking the remaining candidates in order of preference — second choice, third and fourth. The candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated and their votes would instead go to the second choice candidate voters marked on those ballots. The process would continue until there are two candidates left and the candidate with the most votes would be elected the winner. 

Along with filing a complaint Friday, Labrador also filed motions for a speedy hearing and shortening of time for discovery, court records indicate. The court has not scheduled a hearing in the case. 

Whatever happens with the lawsuit, time is likely to be a factor. The state will mail the first absentee ballots for the Nov. 5 general election Sept. 21. Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane previously told the Sun he is moving forward preparing for the ballot initiative to go up for a vote and won’t stop unless or until a court orders him to. 

McGrane wrote in a July 3 letter to legislative leaders that it could cost at least $25 million to $40 million if Idaho has to replace its vote tabulation systems in order to process ranked-choice voting ballots, the Sun previously reported. Mayville said the state won’t need to replace its vote tabulation systems because there is low-cost software available that could be certified in Idaho to process ranked-choice ballots.