PROP 1: Mailer was deceptive

Yesterday, I received a mailer from a group called Idahoans for Open Primaries. High-quality and well-produced in patriotic red, white and blue on glossy paper, it claimed that Prop 1 “restores OPEN PRIMARIES” that were eliminated 40 years ago by a clearly dastardly cabal of “party insiders” (aka Republicans).

How deceptive. Every registered Idaho voter can engage in the primary process, or not; those with no party affiliation have freely made that choice. An “Open Primary” would allow EVERY resident of voting age to cast one ballot in a statewide primary election, for whichever party they chose. We can have that debate and Idahoans are welcome to vote to return to that system. 

HOWEVER, Prop 1 is NOT about primary elections, it is about the general election and the imposition of Ranked-Choice Voting. RCV is a scheme through which voter input is ground into sausage: pushed through a succession of inscrutable computer algorithms to produce a bland but purportedly “fair” output of elected officials.

Engineered to “fundamentally transform” the election system designed by our founders, Prop 1 would slice and dice vote tallies, corrupting the election and disenfranchising many Idahoans, regardless of party. Don’t be fooled!

PAMELA KESTER

Hayden