by Logan Finney, Idaho Reports

There are plenty of disagreements inside the Idaho GOP as Republican delegates from across Idaho convene in Coeur d’Alene for the 2024 state convention. But at least one topic unites the dominant party’s base: Opposition to a proposed ballot initiative that would rewrite the state’s election laws.

Differing views on primary access

Several resolutions at the 2024 convention seek to strengthen the party’s defenses against “crossover” voting, or members of other political parties who temporarily register as Republicans solely for the purpose of voting in the Republican primary.

The party passed a rule change at the 2023 summer meeting in Challis that bars newly registered Republicans from voting in the party’s primary if they did not affiliate by the end of the previous year. That rule also instituted a two-year waiting period for voters previously affiliated with another party.

However, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane has publicly said he cannot enforce the party’s rules that contradict state election laws.

Delegates on Thursday advanced a resolution to the convention floor that would direct the party to “immediately and without delay” hire legal representation to defend the party’s affiliation rules.

Ada County delegate Branden Durst told Idaho Reports the state needs to respect the party’s right to determine its membership – part of the right to association under the First Amendment – as a result of the 2012 lawsuit that enabled the party to close its primary elections in the first place.

“I hope that we can file a lawsuit and the state quickly recognizes that it’s in error,” Durst said.

If adopted by the convention, the resolution would direct the Idaho Republican Party to sue the state and make it to enforce the party’s affiliation rules for voters participating in the primary.

“[McGrane] has a responsibility to follow the binding court order. He’s choosing to refuse to do that,” Durst said. “He should be found in contempt of court – probably won’t be – but hopefully we’ll be able to sue the state… I’m hopeful that once he realizes that a lawsuit’s forthcoming that he’ll acquiesce and direct the clerks to follow our rules, and hopefully we’ll have the authority going forward to not have that sort of nefarious action in our primaries.”

Trent Clark, a former party chair and critic of the current leaders, had a different take on the issue.

“I do not like the [initiative’s] blanket primary. I’m okay with a primary that is inviting to unaffiliateds,” Clark told Idaho Reports. He said primary voters statistically stay loyal to their candidate during the general election, so inviting more people to participate in the Republican primary could make them more likely to vote Republican in the general election as well.

“That is actually the strategic reason that that Democrats right now open their primaries to the unaffiliated, because they’re trying to keep those unaffiliated with them in the general,” Clark said. “There’s no reason Republicans shouldn’t be strategic thinkers just like that.”

If not a Republican primary, what else?

Another resolution sent to the floor of the 2024 convention would establish a committee to look into procedures other than a primary election which the party could use to nominate candidates.

“People confuse that a primary is not an election – it’s a nomination,” Durst told Idaho Reports. “For people to say, ‘It’s the only election that makes a difference.’ It’s not an election at all, it’s a primary. It’s a nomination contest. It’s one that’s defined within our state party rules, one that I have worked on a lot in the last four years.”

Durst argued the party has authority to make those affiliation decisions for itself, not lawmakers.

“The state party cannot be held hostage by legislative action or legislative inaction,” Durst said. “We have a clear constitutional First Amendment right to association, and to define the rules of our party and of our private organization.”

Clark told Idaho Reports the party has to abide by state law if they want to retain ballot access.

“While it’s true we’re a private organization, we want our candidate to appear as the Republican candidate on a general election ballot. The general election ballot is controlled by the laws of the state of Idaho, and they have strict requirements,” Clark said. “In Idaho, parties are allowed to put their candidates on the ballot if they run their candidates in a popular primary. If we run our candidates through any other method, there’s no guarantee we’ll be given a slot on the ballot.”

The resolutions that passed out of committee will come up for consideration by the entire delegation during the general convention sessions at North Idaho College on Friday and Saturday.

“I think we have to look at all the options on the table. That’s what the committee is intended to do,” Durst said. “If the delegation here on Saturday decides to adopt it, that’s what it’ll be told to do: Investigate different options and see what might make sense for Idaho.”

Uniform opposition to ranked choice voting

Despite their differing visions for the direction of the party, both the incumbent chairwoman Dorothy Moon and her challenger Mary Souza espouse strong opposition to the ballot initiative.

At the 2023 summer meeting in Challis, the party passed a resolution calling to enshrine in the state constitution that “political parties shall have an inherent right to choose its nominee for the office in question for the general election.” That resolution referenced the party’s standing opposition to ranked choice voting, as well as political parties’ right to function without government intrusion. 

This legislative session, Republican lawmakers proposed a constitutional amendment that would have limited Idaho elections to a single round of voting and required that the candidate with the highest number of votes is the victor. That proposal was unsuccessful amid questions about whether it would preclude cities from conducting mayoral runoff elections.

Ballot initiative seeks to open access for voters
– Under state law, only affiliated party members can participate in primary elections unless the political party chooses to open participation to unaffiliated voters or members of other parties.
– Spearheaded by Reclaim Idaho, the ballot initiative would unify the existing party primaries into a single combined primary election, in which each voter would select one candidate from among all of the parties’ candidates. The top four vote earners would advance to the general election, which would include a ranked choice voting system that allows voters to rank the candidates and transfer their vote if their favorite candidates are unsuccessful.
– Numerous legacy Republicans have signed onto the initiative, including former Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, advocating that an open primary process would help moderate the direction of the party. However, Otter later told Idaho Reports he is less enthusiastic about the ranked choice voting element of the initiative.

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