Lawsuit fiasco is the height of hypocrisy

The Bonner County Daily Bee recently ran an editorial supporting the idea of a “top-two” primary system, as opposed to the closed primary that the Idaho Republican Party recently won in federal district court.

While there is little that can be done in the short run, this ruling will cost Idaho taxpayers, who lean mostly Republican, about $315,000 up front and $160,000 biennially.

The $315,000 includes $215,000 to pay for new voter registration cards and $100,000 to reimburse the Republican Party for the majority of their court costs in bringing the lawsuit. That $100,000 was “awarded” to the Republican Party by the Idaho Legislature. The court did not mandate it.

The $160,000 is the estimated additional cost to the counties of Idaho to hold closed primaries every two years.

The idea that the taxpayers of Idaho have to foot the bill for a Republican snit over a primary system that currently has most partisan offices in the state already in Republican hands, is nothing short of incredible.

This whole fiasco suggests the height of hypocrisy. Conservatives argue that union dues should not be used for partisan political purposes without the consent of the members. Yet they have no problem applying scarce tax dollars for their own partisan purposes.

In fairness I should add that Sen. Shawn Keough and Sen. Joyce Broadsword voted against the $100,000 reimbursement in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. However, consistent with her committee vote, Keough voted “no” on the actual Senate bill (1202), while Broadsword voted “‘yes.”

BOB WYNHAUSEN

Sandpoint