Every day should be Voter Registration Day

Michael Perez came up to me at Saturday Market where we were gathering signatures for the Open Primaries Initiative, and introduced himself as the author of a letter to the editor claiming that “the vast majority of funding (of Reclaim Idaho, the main grass-roots citizens group supporting the Open Primaries Initiative) comes from out-of-state Democratic Party interests.”

I said that was wrong, and he replied that he had “done the research” to back up his statement in his letter. I told him that repeating something from social media is not “research.”

Now, as a result of this particular lie he spread, many in our community do not know the important truths. So I want to share with Herald readers the truths.

Reclaim Idaho and its partner, Idahoans for Open Primaries, are not partisan. I’m one of 1,000-plus volunteers across the state. We are members of every party, and many of us are not affiliated.

About our funding, a search of the Secretary of State’s public records of contributions given to Reclaim Idaho revealed that 94% of all contributions to Reclaim Idaho in 2022 and the first two-thirds of 2023 came from regular Idahoans like myself. Volunteers gathering signatures for the initiative contribute financially to its work, too.

The smallest contribution was $3 and the largest was $10,000, but most were for $5 or $10. Out of the $229,597 contributed in 2022, alone, $215,821.18 was given to the organization by Idahoans like me.

Of the small number who live out of Idaho who contributed, 25 are from the Midwest, 107 are from states between Ohio and Maine, 211 are from California, Montana, Oregon and Colorado and 71 are from Florida, Texas, Louisiana, states in the Southwest and Kentucky. My hunch is that even most of those have family in Idaho. Regardless, all are donations of $5 to $100.

While doing the research, I found a contribution of under $2,000 from a nonpartisan nonprofit that funds only grass-roots campaigns all over the country. It was heartwarming to realize that this organization saw our campaign as worthy of their support.

CLARICE McKENNEY

Bonners Ferry