Move to ranked-choice voting could cost at least $25M to $40M, Idaho’s top election official says

Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane at the State Capitol building on January 8, 2024. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)

Implementing the ranked-choice voting component of the open primaries ballot initiative that will be up for a vote in Idaho’s Nov. 5 general election could cost the state at least $25 million to $40 million if the state needs to replace its vote tabulation systems, Idaho’s top elections official wrote this month.

But members of the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition say that low-cost software that has been used in Utah is available to be used in Idaho and would save the state the expense of replacing vote tabulation systems.

In a July 3 letter to the Idaho Legislature’s Legislative Council, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane wrote that the state may need to replace its vote tabulation systems because the two vote tabulation system vendors that are certified for use in Idaho are not currently capable of tabulating the results of a ranked-choice voting ballot.

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“The implications of this are that Idaho would either need to change our certifications standards and statutes, which I do not recommend, or transition to a different vote tabulation system that is certified by the (U.S. Election Assistance Commission) and capable of tabulating an instant runoff ballot,” McGrane wrote.

McGrane said his $25 million to $40 million price range was an estimate, and the money is not currently provided for in the state budget. If voters approve the initiative, the Idaho Legislature or counties would likely have to make decisions on how to move forward, McGrane said in an interview Thursday.

Open primaries supporters say there are other options to tabulate ranked-choice voting

But Reclaim Idaho co-founder Luke Mayville told the Sun on Friday there is software, including RCTab tabulation software, available that would save the state the expense of having to replace its current vote tabulation systems.

“There’s nothing in Idaho code that prevents our state from utilizing low cost software that’s available to all 50 states,” Mayville said. “The main question being raised is about software called RCTab. That software is a fiscally conservative option that can easily be certified in Idaho.”

Reclaim Idaho, the organization behind the successful 2018 Medicaid expansion ballot initiative which more than 60% of Idaho voters approved, is a member of the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition.

Mayville forwarded the Sun a report from the Maine Secretary of State’s Office that indicated it cost $441,804 in addition to other regular election costs to implement ranked-choice voting in Maine for the primary and general election in 2018.
McGrane is aware of the RCTab software and mentioned it in his July 3 letter. McGrane told the Legislative Council that any vote tallying software used in Idaho must be certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

“While it appears that the RCTab software provided by (the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center) has gone through testing, it is not currently certified by the EAC, nor is it in the process of being certified,” McGrane wrote.

What is the open primary ballot initiative in Idaho?

In Idaho, a ballot initiative is a form of direct democracy, where the people vote on whether or not to pass a new law – completely independent of the Idaho Legislature.

The open primary ballot initiative will appear on Idaho’s Nov. 5 general election ballot as Proposition 1, and it will take a simple majority of votes to pass.

If voters approve the initiative, it will make changes to both Idaho’s primary election and general election.

• First, the ballot initiative would replace Idaho’s closed party primary elections with a single primary election that all candidates and voters participate in, regardless of party affiliation. The top four candidates who receive the most votes would all advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. That means that more than one candidate from the same political party – or even four different candidates from the same political party – could advance to the general election. The open primary ballot initiative would repeal a 2011 law passed by the Idaho Legislature that allows political parties to ban all voters who are not formally affiliated with their political party from voting in their primary election. Only the Democratic Party allowed other voters to participate in its primary election during the most recent state primary elections, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office previously said. In Idaho, more than 273,000 of the state’s one million registered voters are unaffiliated voters who are not allowed to vote in the Republican, Libertarian or Constitution Party primary elections
• Second, the ballot initiative would also change Idaho’s general election to create a ranked-choice voting system, which is sometimes called an instant runoff system. Voters would vote for their favorite candidate and have the option of ranking the remaining three candidates in order of preference – second choice, third and fourth. The candidate who receives the fewest votes would be eliminated and their votes would be transferred to the second choice candidate marked on the ballot. That process would continue until there are two candidates remaining and the candidate with the most votes would be elected the winner.

Supporters of the initiative say its passage would ensure all voters have the right to vote in a primary election and that the winners of the general election would be the candidates with the broadest support.

Idaho secretary of state says it could take longer to count ranked-choice ballots

In his July 3 letter, McGrane told legislative leaders it would likely take longer to tabulate election results. That could mean the public in Idaho may not see the unofficial election results on the night the election takes place or learn who won an election until the next day or later.

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One of the challenges is that counties run Idaho elections now, and Idaho has many legislative and statewide races that cover multiple counties. Another challenge McGrane identified is that six Idaho counties currently count election results by hand.

“Currently, each county conducts and tabulates its election results and then uploads the final results to the state election night results reporting tool,” McGrane wrote. “In order to process the multiple rounds of vote tabulation required by the proposed instant runoff voting process, ballots would have to be centrally aggregated and processed, or ballot image information would have to be electronically shared to tabulate races that cross county lines.

“To establish the candidate receiving the fewest votes and subsequently eliminated in a round of tabulation, all the votes from each county involved need to be aggregated to ensure the same candidate is eliminated across all involved counties.”

On Thursday afternoon, McGrane told the Sun it was too early to speculate how much longer it would take to count election results and release unofficial results to the public.

Meanwhile Mayville shared reports from the nonprofit organization FairVote.org that showed that election results were available on election night or the morning after in the 10 Utah cities that used ranked-choice voting in their elections in 2023.
In Idaho, election results do not become official until they are certified by the State Board of Canvassers, which must happen within 21 days of a primary or general election under Idaho law .

McGrane also said the state would likely need to launch a voter awareness campaign about the changes if the initiative passes on Nov. 5. Although changes would need to take place and implementation would not happen instantly, McGrane said his office is capable of implementing the ballot initiative.

“It can be done; let’s make that abundantly clear,” McGrane said in an interview Thursday. “It’s just a matter of how it’s done, and there are questions that we have to think through.”

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