Prop. 1 takes center stage at debate

KOOTENAI — Supporters say Prop 1 is needed to give all Idahoans a chance to vote, while critics claim the initiative on Tuesday's general election ballot is nothing more than an effort to limit the existing one-person, one-vote system.

Both sides got a chance to share their perspective at a two-and-a-half-hour forum Friday night on Proposition 1, which, if passed, would end the current closed primary system in favor of an open primary and ranked choice system.

Issues raised at the debate included the potential impact on the state's political parties, with some asking if the measure was aimed at hurting the state's dominant Republican party. Others questioned the impact on voter participation, the potential complexity of ranked choice voting, and how large numbers of candidates would impact turnout and voter fatigue as residents faced a potentially daunting slate of candidates.

Attendees also wanted to know about how the measure was being funded, as well as the potential financial burden on counties tasked with running the state's election.

In speaking in support of the measure, Luke Mayville of Reclaim Idaho and Christie Wood of Veterans of Idaho for Voters said Prop 1 would increase government accountability by requiring officials to be more responsive to a majority of voters instead of a limited number of the fringe of a party. Voting would be more inclusive, with independent and unaffiliated voters free to voice instead of aligning themselves with a party they do not support or believe in just to be able to vote.

Wood noted that ranked choice voice would allow for a broader range of voices to be heard, giving all parties — and all voices within a party — a chance to be heard by voters. It also would allow veterans like herself, known for being independent voters, to actually vote in elections for the country they are sworn to protect.

However, current state Sen. Scott Herndon, who lost his bid for reelection in the May primary, and Michael Angiletta, co-founder of Secure Idaho Elections, said that instead of helping, the initiative could undermine confidence in the current system, tamper with the one-person, one-vote system due to the potential complexity of ranking candidates, and lead to an oversize influence of outsider corporate influence in the state's politics.

Herndon, who also serves as the Bonner County Republican Central Committee chair, emphasized the importance of political parties in organizing and representing shared principles, suggesting that Prop 1 would weaken this structure.

In outlining the case for Prop 1, Mayville said the government should always be accountable to the people, an idea enshrined in the Declaration of Independence by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. However, due to Idaho's closed primary system, officials can be elected with just a fraction of those voting and often far from a majority.

"Because we live in a state dominated by one party, we end up with elected officials who are not accountable to the people of the state," Mayville said in his opening statement. "They're accountable to about 9% of the people of the state. That's not government based on the consent of the governed; that's not living up to one of the fundamental truths put forward by our Founding Fathers."

Prop 1 aims to change the problems created by a closed system in two ways, Mayville said. First by opening the state's primary system and, second, by introducing ranked choice voting, which would ensure anyone elected would have to gain 50% of the vote, ensuring broad support.

However, Angiletta said Prop 1's complexity and potential for spoiled ballots — caused when voters only select one candidate — and erode trust in the state's election system and its system.

"We have a fairly high trust election system, where approximately two-thirds of Idahoans believe in the integrity of the election process here in Idaho," Angiletta said. "It's a gem, and I think we can all agree that that's something, that trust is something we all want to protect."

A veteran, Wood, said that statistics show that roughly half of those serving are independent, favoring neither political party. Under the current closed-party system in Idaho, they are forced to either not vote or to register for a party they don't support or believe in.

"My friend Gray Henderson served in Vietnam," Wood added. "Those are the veterans that you are going to see, the everyday heroes, the patriots out there that fought on behalf of this country and their expectation is they should be allowed to vote in any election they want to."

Like Angiletta, Herndon said he was against the initiative, contending it is not home-grown as supporters claim but is intended part of a coordinated push aimed to weaken the role of political parties to organize around shared principles.

The initiative, he said, is an outside attempt to change the state's political system and make parties less relevant to the election process, undercutting 250 years of history and relevance. Contrary to claims that closed primaries hurt turnout, Herndon said Bonner County's participation has gone up with an almost 50% turnout. It is, he added, quite easy to vote under the current system.

"When you register to vote, which could be on election day, and if you're unaffiliated, these 275,000 unaffiliated votes — 6,000 in Bonner County — you can actually vote in the Republican primary election by showing up on election day and saying your affiliation is Republican; that is how difficult it is to vote in the Republican primary election."

While agreeing with Herndon that voters have that option, Mayville said for many that isn't an option that aligns with their ideals. "They don't believe they should be forced to join a party, even for a day, even for an hour, just to exercise their right to vote," he added. "They should be able to remain independent and still be able to vote."

Supporters said ranked choice voters can be more accurately described as an instant runoff where, if any candidate fails to get 50% of the vote, the last-place candidate is eliminated. Supporters who listed a second choice would see their votes go to that candidate.

"As soon as someone gets over 50%, they're declared the winner," Mayville said. "The winner is the candidate with the most votes, the most support. … We want elected leaders who represent the broader community, not just one narrow group of voters who participate in a closed primary. We want candidates to represent all of us."

Critics, however, said ranked choice voting isn't that simple with mixed results in communities and states that have tried the concept. Ballots are effectively tossed when voters don't list additional choices due to lack of information or voter exhaustion due to the large volume of candidates on the ballot, Angiletta said. 

"So an exhausted vote is somebody who, for instance, will vote on principle for one candidate, and that candidate doesn't win in that first round, and they don't have any second or third or fourth candidates ranked so that that ballot in that voice ends up being exhausted," Angiletta said, who pointed to a recent Santa Fe mayor's race as an example.

"So when we're talking about disenfranchising and silencing voters, we really ought to also consider the voices that are being silenced with this increased exponential complexity of ranked choice voting," he added. 

Herndon disputed claims the initiative will ensure successful candidates have broad support, saying there is no guarantee that will happen. It also, he said, takes away voters' choices because they are unable to choose after a candidate is knocked out and being able to select from those remaining. The proposal would also open the door to big corporations and outside interests having an oversized influence on Idaho's elections, which could flood in to fill the void left by the parties' forced absence.

"If Proposition 1 passes, there will be all kinds of money behind candidates from Alexandria, Va.-based corporations pushing your favorite candidate, like McDonald's pushes the Big Mac, and that is who is likely to win elections in the future," Herndon said. "And I don't think Idaho wants that."