Idaho open primary initiative in final stretch

COEUR d’ALENE — Supporters of a ballot initiative that would open Idaho’s primary elections to all voters are making a final push to gather signatures before the May 1 deadline to submit signatures for verification.

Members of the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition say the initiative tackles what they believe is the “problem” of closed primary elections. In a state where many elections are won in the primary, proponents of the initiative say closed primaries shut more than 275,000 unaffiliated Idaho voters out of the process.

“If you’re an independent voter and you don’t belong to a political party, you get blocked from voting in the most important elections,” said Luke Mayville, co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, which is part of the open primaries coalition. “The open primary initiative would change that by giving all voters, including independents, the right to vote in all primary elections.”

To get the initiative on the ballot in November, the coalition must collect about 63,000 signatures statewide. As of Friday afternoon, Mayville said the coalition has collected about 90,000 signatures across all 44 counties, at least 70,000 of which are believed to be valid. Signatures can be ruled invalid if they’re illegible, if the voter’s address on the petition doesn’t match the person’s voter registration or if the person who signed isn’t registered to vote.



https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2024/apr/28/idaho-open-primary-initiative-in-final-stretch-bon/