Regressive election laws disenfranchise voters

Among long overdue projects for the city of Sandpoint, reconstructing the Lake Pend Oreille water treatment facility ranks high on the list.

Thus, the City Council has set May 26 for a bond election. Ratepayers will be asked to re-pay up to $20 million for this project which will raise water rates by as much as 30 percent. The election is limited to city residents only. That raises red flags since, according to Public Works Department, 25 percent of the ratepayers live outside the city limits and, though they will share in the rate increase, will have no say in the bond election.

The Secretary of States office told me the election might be “unfair, but it’s legal.”

I conclude that this is just another in a long list of “quirks” in Idaho law which fail to serve the public in favor of other interests.

The truth be told, were I allowed to vote, I would support the measure. The reality is, however, that regressive election laws like this one disenfranchise large segments of affected constituents, who will pay without being allowed to vote. That’s not my idea of how our government is supposed to work.

KEN JACKSON

Sandpoint