OPINION: KCRCC recommendation facts

You need to make decisions on how to vote in the upcoming local election Nov. 5. Who should you listen to for advice? 

Your local official Republican Party, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, has put considerable time and effort into making recommendations for the November election and voters overwhelmingly appreciate the work of the KCRCC. We have received hundreds of messages and emails thanking the KCRCC for providing both the Voter Guide and the list of recommended candidates along with over 20,000 information packages that Precinct Committeemen hand deliver county wide.  

KCRCC efforts go beyond just making recommendations; we also actively recruit candidates for office so voters have a choice. There are over 240 elected offices in Kootenai County with taxing authority but without any challenges to their offices, board members become complacent because they don’t need to listen to their constituents if they are running unopposed in their elections.  

There are other organizations that endorse candidates but most don’t have a formalized process and none have representatives from every precinct in the county. This is why KCRCC recommended candidates win over 80% of the time. Our members are a representative cross section of the county which helps us to identify candidates that are attractive to the voters.  

Why should you consider the recommendations of the KCRCC? Because the KCRCC makes recommendations at the end of a long process involving nearly one hundred members and volunteers. It starts with invitations to all candidates to answer a questionnaire followed by an interview with the Vetting Committee. Then meet and greet events, background checks and ultimately a vote by all the members of the KCRCC.  

The Vetting Committee interviews the candidates and conducts professional background checks. The Vetting Committee has 11 voting members, seven are precinct committeemen and four are respected members of the community. Members of the Vetting Committee sign a Non-Disclosure agreement to protect the candidates and to allow them to speak freely when being interviewed. Without the agreement, members could use their privileged information to unfairly sway opinion about a candidate.  

All members of the KCRCC are encouraged to do their due diligence and to personally investigate the candidates. The KCRCC also hosts or supports a number of events including forums and meet and greets so that member PCs and the public can get to know the candidates. These include meetings specifically for the PCs to have one on one time with each candidate. 

The final step in the recommendation process is to have all members of the KCRCC meet to discuss the candidates and vote on who the committee will support. PCs will hear reports on the candidates from the chairman of the Vetting Committee as well as the testimony from other PCs. Hearsay evidence is not allowed but PCs are encouraged to relate any direct knowledge they have of the candidates.  

The rating meeting is done in Executive Session where visitors and recordings are not allowed. What is said in the meeting is kept confidential unless agreed otherwise by majority vote of all members. Executive Session allows the PCs to speak freely and not be intimidated into supporting a specific candidate, and it helps prevent incomplete or inaccurate information from spreading as rumor.  

Executive Session is an honored tradition. George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention which was conducted in Executive Session but at that time it was called a “Committee of the Whole.”   

Once debate and discussion are completed, ballots are distributed and a secret vote takes place. Completed ballots are cast and the secretary notes that the PC has voted. Once all the ballots are turned in they are shuffled and given to the tabulators. These are PCs who volunteered to tabulate and were approved by the body. All PCs present may witness the tabulation but not interfere.  

Once the tabulation is complete the results are announced by the chairman and then the committee votes to accept the results. The results are then immediately posted to social media.  

Paper ballots hand counted in front of multiple witnesses with the results posed immediately ensure that there is no way to rig or cheat the process. This is the gold standard for election integrity.  

Many organizations endorse candidates but no organization has a process that is as thorough, transparent and comprehensive as the KCRCC. No other organization has elected members from every precinct in the county represented.   

The KCRCC is the only officially recognized Republican Party in Kootenai County. Some organizations have gone so far as to counterfeit KCRCC literature substituting other candidates or even pretend to be the official Republican Party. You may hear some wild claims, but they are never based in the truth. Now that you have the facts you can easily identify the fake news.  

Good decisions come from having good information and the KCRCC wants you to have as much good information as practical to better inform your choices. 

More information on the candidates is available at our website www.kcrcc.com.

Please be sure to vote Nov. 5. 

It’s just common sense.

• • •

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