The Idaho Secretary of State announced on July 10 that a ballot initiative to establish top-four primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections for congressional, statewide, and county elected offices qualified for the Nov. 2024 ballot.
Currently, Idaho state law stipulates that political parties can determine for themselves who may participate in their primary elections. The Democratic Party allows unaffiliated voters to vote in its primary. The Republican Party allows only voters registered with its party. Unaffiliated voters can choose to affiliate with a party on Election Day. The primary election winner is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if he or she does not receive an outright majority of votes.
The initiative would replace the partisan primaries with a nonpartisan top-four primary system where all candidates seeking that office appear on one ballot and the top four vote-earners advance to the general election. Candidates would be able to list their party affiliation. Candidates would also not be required to list their party affiliation.
Idahoans for Open Primaries is sponsoring the initiative. The campaign has received endorsements from Reclaim Idaho, Unite America, Former Gov. Butch Otter (R), and former Speaker of the Idaho House Bruce Newcomb (R).
Former Gov. Butch Otter (R) said, “The right to vote is one of the most precious rights that Americans have. Every registered voter should have the right to weigh in on choosing our leaders. Independents, including a lot of military veterans, have been excluded from having their say because of the closed GOP primary.”
Idaho Republican Party Chair and former Rep. Dorothy Moon and State Rep. Lance Clow (R) voiced opposition to the initiative. Rep. Clow said, “Unaffiliated citizens complain they’re not allowed to vote in the Republican Closed primary. If that’s the concern, why complicate our primaries with such a radical change to nominations? A simple initiative to open all primaries would offer a solution and not confuse the electors. So, why complicate it? Their goal is to give the Idaho Democrat Party an increased opportunity to gain traction in Idaho without addressing their own party platform. If you want an open primary, do not sign this complex petition with ulterior motives.”
Currently, three states use a top-two primary system—California, Nebraska, and Washington. Alaska adopted a top-four primary system and ranked-choice voting in 2020 via ballot measure. An initiative to repeal the system has qualified for the 2024 ballot.
Nevada voters will take their second and final vote on a citizen-initiated amendment to adopt top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections, which would apply to congressional, gubernatorial, state executive official, and state legislative elections. It was first approved in 2022 with 52.94% of the vote. Nevada currently has closed primary elections.
South Dakota voters will also decide on an initiative to replace partisan primaries with top-two primaries for state executive, state legislative, congressional, and county offices.
Idaho voters will also be deciding on a legislatively referred constitutional amendment to provide that only U.S. citizens can vote in the state on Nov. 5. Six other states will be deciding on similar amendments in Nov.
Additional reading: Idaho 2024 ballot measures
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