Vote yes on Proposition 1

The closed Republican primary means that only registered Republicans can weigh in on these critical elections. Because Idaho is a “red” state, I became a RINO (Republican in name only) to participate in primary elections. Registered Democrats, Independents and unaffiliated voters have no voice in Idaho Republican primaries. 

Closed Republican primaries mean that almost 400,000 Idaho voters (of the 924,000-plus registered) are unable to fully participate in choosing candidates. While Proposition 1 would eliminate RINOs, it would also make extreme conservatives without broad public support less likely to be elected since voters would have more than two candidate choices.  

I urge everyone to support Idaho’s Proposition 1 on Nov. 5 because it creates an open primary system that allows ALL registered Idaho voters to participate.  

Here’s how it would work: 

In the single May primary, every voter receives the same ballot, regardless of party affiliation — or no affiliation. 

The top four candidates from the primary move on to the general election in November. 

Voters in November will choose their preferred candidate, but may also select their second, third, and fourth choices (ranked choice). Then, if no candidate receives 51% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated and the second choices of those who voted for that candidate will be counted. This instant runoff process will continue until one candidate emerges as the clear winner. (Every voter still has only one vote per race. This process requires basic math computation — not rocket science.) 

Don’t be persuaded by smear compaigns warning against open primaries; some Republicans are threatened by Proposition 1 because it’s likely to transform Idaho elections and ensure winning candidates are broadly supported by residents — a truer version of representative democracy.  

AMY FLINT

Sandpoint