By Dorothy Moon
Another week, another set of untruthful statements from Reclaim Idaho and its allies about Proposition 1. In recent mailers and text messages, they claimed that Prop 1 will “restore Idaho’s voting traditions” — an outrageous lie. Prop 1 does not restore anything; rather, it creates a brand new system with a Top-Four Jungle Primary and Ranked Choice Voting.
They claim that hundreds of thousands of unaffiliated voters in Idaho are barred from participating in our elections. This is also a blatant lie. Every registered voter in Idaho has the right to cast a ballot, both in the primary election in May and the general election in November. While the other parties have decided to leave their primaries open — anyone can request a Democratic ballot, for example — the Idaho GOP decided long ago that people who vote in our primaries should be Republicans.
Currently, there are 1,020,552 registered voters in the state of Idaho. Of these, 606,822 have chosen to affiliate with the Republican Party, meaning they have the right to vote in the Republican primary. That’s what the primary is: a chance for voters in each party to select their nominees for the general election.
Saying that members of other parties should have a say in the Republican primary is like saying the Washington State Cougars should be allowed to pick Boise State’s opening playbook this weekend. It makes no sense!
The 268,795 registered voters who have chosen to remain unaffiliated aren’t being denied anything by not voting in the Republican primary. They can choose to vote on another party’s primary ballot or vote for nonpartisan races such as school boards. If an unaffiliated voter wants to make a choice in the Republican primary, he or she has that opportunity — all it takes is checking a box marked “Republican” on their registration. You can do this right at the polling place!
Reclaim Idaho and the groups backing Prop 1 know they can’t win under the current system, so they want to change the rules.
Prop 1 would twist and pervert both our primary and our general elections, making them more complex, more expensive, and harder to audit. That is why Luke Mayville and his friends are trying to gaslight voters into believing that it’s just about open primaries. I think they realize that Idahoans are smarter than they thought. I still haven’t heard Mayville condemn the rampant vandalism and destruction of our No on Prop 1 signs throughout the state.
Any voting system that takes more than five minutes to explain is an abject failure. Our current system of one person, one vote is simple, straightforward, and fair. Prop 1 is a crazy and convoluted scheme to wreck our reliable election system in hopes of turning Idaho blue, and I’m confident voters will reject it. Vote no on Prop 1, vote no on Ranked Choice Voting.
Dorothy Moon was elected to serve as the chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party in July of 2022, and reelected in 2024. Moon served three terms in the Idaho Legislature as State Representative for District 8. Moon’s career in public service has focused on the advancement of individual liberties and reducing the size and scope of government.
