Prop 1 is the right move for Idaho

I lived in Maine 2, a conservative rural district in 2018. In the first Ranked Choice Voting election after Maine’s successful Citizen Initiative, the District 2 Republican candidate lost 50.5% to 49.5% to a conservative Democrat after two rounds of voting.

Idaho’s Proposition 1 opponents, including Cornel Rasor, claim that 6000 District 2 votes were not counted in that election, blaming RCV. In fact, of the 23,000 votes for losing candidates cast in the first round of voting, 17,000  were redistributed based on voter ranking. The 6,000 voters whose first-round candidate didn’t qualify for the second round, chose not to rank additional candidates. Their votes counted; the candidates lost. 

Proposition 1 opponents also claim that RCV will force Idaho to adopt expensive computerized voting systems and that RCV delays vote counts. Maine scans paper ballots for counting, the same system we use here. It is always possible to hand-count paper ballots. Expensive? According to the Maine Secretary of State, the total cost for RCV implementation in 2018 was $441,804, including software upgrades and faster tabulators. 

The final District 2 result was delayed, but not by vote counting. The delay resulted from the losing candidate’s unsuccessful lawsuit claiming that RCV is unconstitutional. And FYI, the 2018 winner has since been re-elected twice. If you believe that all voters should have a voice, reject scare tactics. Vote for Proposition 1.

LAURA WAGNER

Sandpoint