The facts on Proposition 1, ranked choice voting

As Open Primaries Boundary team leader, I am one of almost 2,000 grass-roots volunteers who have worked for almost a year answering voters’ questions about the proposed change that we have found is so popular with Idaho voters. I personally collected well over 300 valid signatures to support the measure, which shows why so many volunteers were able to get the required number of signatures. 

When our ballot measure was certified by the Idaho Secretary of State, it became Proposition 1, to be voted on in the November general election. 

If Open Primaries is approved this November by a majority of voters, every registered voter in Idaho would vote in a single Primary without having to declare party membership. Instead of the current tiny percentage who vote in the Primaries, Open Primaries promises to enlarge voter turnout to select the best candidates. 

Each voter would choose the candidate they feel would best represent them from the same list of qualified candidates everyone else would choose from, regardless of the candidates’ parties or their independent status as candidates. 

The four candidates getting the most votes in the primary then would be on the ballot in the general election. 

Although MAGA factions have tried to confuse voters about the General Elections phase under Proposition 1, it’s very simple. Every voter in the general election would have a choice, not a requirement, to either vote for a single candidate or to pick several and rank them by preference. 

But as I tell everyone, it’s to the voter’s advantage to rank their choices. If their first choice is eliminated on the first round, their second choice has a good chance to win. 

CLARICE M. McKENNEY

Bonners Ferry