PROP 1: If you want to vote in primaries, just pick a party

I am sick and tired of “everyone needs a trophy!” When I registered to vote the first time I picked the party that aligned with my beliefs, as most people do, BUT I knew that only Republicans vote in the primaries to pick THEIR candidate for a specific office as do the Democrats. If you register in any other party you DO NOT get to pick the candidate for the Republicans or the Democrats. If you want to vote in the primaries you need to be registered in one of these parties. I DO NOT want Democrats, Libertarians or anyone else picking my candidate!

I have been voting since the early ’60s (but only in Idaho since 2003) when, like Idaho, you went into a booth with the ballot and a pen to mark who you were voting for. We voted for one person for each office. Years later that progressed to machines — which I have always thought could be "fixed” — but you still only voted for one person. Now, Ranked Choice Voting is on the ballot hidden in Prop 1 which is called “Open Primaries.” Why wasn’t the Ranked Choice Voting part of the name of the Prop 1? Why was it hidden within the context of the proposition? I talked to one of the signature takers and all he talked about was the open primaries and why everyone should be able to vote in the primaries. I asked him about the Ranked Choice Voting and he was surprised I knew about it and then he had to talk about it. Our views were poles apart.

My final questions are: 

WHY the push for Open Primaries and Ranked Choice voting NOW?

WHO is really behind it?

WHO really benefits from this form of voting? 

God Bless America!

JUDY GARDNER

Coeur d’Alene