OPINION: Prop 1 fact check

About a third of all the visitors to the Republican tent at the North Idaho State Fair had no idea about Proposition 1 and were unaware it was going to be on the November ballot. So what is Prop 1 and why should they or you care.

If passed, Proposition 1 would eliminate our current primary and general elections and replace them with a Jungle Primary and Ranked Choice general election. This would require scrapping the election equipment in all 44 counties and replacing them with equipment made by Dominion Voting Systems or Clear Ballot Group at a cost north of $40 million dollars. The ultimate goal is to turn Idaho blue. 

How could this happen? Idaho has an initiative process that the voters can use to pass laws bypassing the Legislature. It requires gathering tens of thousands of signatures to put the initiative on the ballot and then a majority of votes by the people to become law. If you want to pass a law in Idaho all you need is about half a million dollars to pay people to gather signatures and then another two or three times that to hire an advertising firm to do a slick marketing campaign.  

Reclaim Idaho, a progressive activist organization, did exactly that in 2019 to pass Medicaid expansion. Reclaim claimed that Medicaid expansion would cost no more than $300 million, but the true cost is nearly a billion dollars a year.  

Proposition 1 is being sold as an “Open Primaries Initiative.” This is a lie and Idaho’s attorney general is suing the supporters for misrepresenting Prop 1 and fraudulently obtaining signatures to put Prop 1 on the ballot. 

The “Open Primary” lie. 

Prop 1 will NOT restore open primaries. Prop 1 will eliminate the current primary system and replace it with a “Jungle Primary” where dozens of candidates campaign to be among the top four who will go on to the Ranked Choice Voting General election.  

Prior to 2012, primary elections operated on the honor system. It was assumed that Democrats would go to the polls and participate in the Democrat party selection of their nominee for the following general election. Republicans, Libertarians and Constitution party voters would do the same.  

The problem started when the Democrat party candidates began consistently losing to their Republican opponents. Rather than promoting candidates that could win in the general election, Democrats began requesting Republican primary election ballots so they could vote for the most Democrat leaning Republican candidate. This was like having people from Washington state come to Idaho and vote for who would be the Idaho governor.  

The Republicans countered these efforts by requiring that people who vote for the Republican nominee for the general election need to be Republicans. The courts upheld this decision as a right to free association. 

The “Disenfranchise voters” lie. 

Prop 1 supporters claim that only allowing Republicans to vote for the Republican who will run in the general election disenfranchises voter who are not Republicans. Using this “logic,” you would argue that requiring voter to be at least 18 years old disenfranchises people who are younger than that.  

Voting is about decisions. You make a decision to register to vote. You make a decision to participate in an election. You make a decision which party you want to affiliate with. You make a decision on who will get your vote. Allowing people who aren’t Republican to vote in the Republican primary is like allowing people who aren’t women to compete in women’s sports. 

There are limits on who can register to vote. There are limits on when you can vote. However, if you are a legal registered voter there are NO restrictions on which party you can affiliate. If you want to be a Republican and vote in the Republican primary just check a box on the form and you are good to go. If you can’t figure out how to check a box then how are you going to vote at all?  

The “more is better” lie. 

Jungle Primaries have had over 40 candidates listed, and you are supposed to pick the best one out of that mess. Because there are so many candidates you can’t have meaningful debates or forums to help you decide. You will just have to go to the polls and hope you can even find your candidate in the randomized list. This is why we have political parties, to help winnow the selections and present a reasonable number of options to the voter.  

The “power to the people” lie. 

Supports claim Prop 1 gives power to the people, not just political party elites when exactly the opposite is true. Here is how it works. Suppose the jungle primary four finalists are two Democrats, a Republican, and an Independent. Democrat party bosses would then pressure one of the Democrat candidates to withdraw so they don’t split the vote. This takes the choice away from the people, opposite what is claimed. 

We all saw this happen when the Democrats forced Joe Biden to withdraw so they could install Harris in his place without a single vote of the people.  

Prop 1 will give us a convoluted and confusing and expensive voting system that that will further erode public trust. Prop 1 is an expensive and risky “solution” to a problem we don’t have. Vote No to Jungle Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting. 

Vote NO on Proposition 1. 

It’s just common sense.

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Brent Regan is chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.