OPINION: Chaos primaries and rigged choice voting

Should foreign nationals vote in American elections? No. Should Oregon or Washington residents vote in Idaho elections? No. Should Republicans get to vote for who will be the Democrat State Party Chairman? No. Should affiliated Republicans vote for who is the Democrat’s Precinct Committeeman? No. The members of a group should be the ones selecting who represents their group.  

How could a reasonable, intelligent person possibly conclude that it is OK for Democrats to select the Republican’s nominee to be on the ballot in the General Election? You can’t, and so in Idaho you must be affiliated with the Republican Party if you want to vote for who will be the Republican nominee in the next General Election. This is logical and reasonable.    

The First Amendment’s protection to assemble, to petition and the freedom of speech logically extends to the freedom to associate with others. That freedom of association means people with similar religious, cultural or political beliefs can aggregate into groups. Those groups can set the parameters for including or excluding members as long as those parameters are well defined. Much of the case law regarding the freedom to associate comes from cases involving Democrats’ attempts to limit the activities of the NAACP.  

Democrat policies are so unpopular that Idaho Democrats have a tough time winning general elections. Democrats have tried running as Republicans in Republican primaries, but that has only had limited success. If the rules stop you from winning, change the rules.  

The Democrat solution is to destroy the primary system altogether; to create chaos and confusion by making it legal to lie about party affiliation. Under the Democrat’s “Open Primary” scheme anyone can claim to be a member of any party regardless of their actual affiliation. Then the four top Chaos Primary vote winners will go on to a Ranked Choice Vote general election where the candidate who is your first choice probably won’t win. 

The Democrat’s plan will be on the November ballot as a voter initiative. It is a Trojan Horse designed to turn Idaho deep blue.  

Here is how our Idaho Republican Party Chairman, Dorothy Moon, describes the situation: 

“They lied to get it on the ballot. Now it is time for the truth."

Paid signature gatherers have been traveling the state over the past year, telling people that their new initiative will result in open primaries, re-enfranchise voters, and create a more fair and equitable system. 

None of that is true. 

This initiative seeks to change how Idahoans have voted since the beginning by implementing ranked-choice voting (RCV). RCV undermines the American concept of “one person, one vote,” which has given us confidence in our elections for centuries. Instead, it introduces a system that is deliberately confusing and difficult to audit. 

Under RCV, voters rank the candidates on the ballot from their first to last choice. Votes are then tabulated in rounds. In the first round, all first choices are counted. If no candidate wins a 50% majority, the lowest vote-getter is eliminated, and ballots listing that candidate as the first choice are recast for their second choice. This process continues until one candidate exceeds 50% and is declared the winner. 

Not only is this unnecessarily complicated, it also lacks the transparency needed to ensure our elections are secure. Wherever it has been tried — Seattle, Virginia, Alaska, California — voters have been overwhelmed with confusion and demanded a return to the tried-and-true methods of the past. 

RCV can also create “ballot exhaustion.” If voters rank some, yet not all candidates, and their preferred candidates are eliminated, their votes ultimately do not count. A recent RCV election in Alaska saw more than 11,000 ballots exhausted, meaning those voters ultimately did not participate in the election. 

RCV changes the nature of our political system. In a winner-take-all election, the candidate with the most votes wins — the candidate that the most voters want. However, in an RCV election, the winner is the candidate a majority can tolerate. This shifts the focus, incentivizing candidates to avoid taking strong stands on issues. 

Leftists have long been frustrated that Idaho is a conservative state. Having given up on changing hearts and minds with persuasive arguments, they now want to change the rules of the game. This is part of a long pattern of an insatiable thirst for power: mass mail-in ballots, gerrymandering, unmonitored drop boxes, and even allowing noncitizens to vote. 

They know most people would reject such a drastic change to our election system, so they have hidden the truth and even lied about what this initiative does. Make no mistake, this is not about “open primaries.” It is a complete overhaul of how we cast our votes. 

Ranked-choice voting is just the latest ploy in the left’s pursuit of unlimited power. I am confident that Idaho voters will reject this radical scheme in November.” 

These wise words from Madam Chairman Moon need to be heard by every Republican. 

If Democrats want to win elections they should put up candidates the voters find appealing. But as one RCV proponent said they think “Voters are stupid” so instead they want to change how elections are conducted so they can fool the voters.  

Be smart. Don’t fall for the false promises. Avoid the chaos and risk. Vote NO on the Top-Four primary and Ranked Choice voting initiative this November. 

It’s just common sense.

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