Idaho Supreme Court rejects open primaries challenge

The Idaho Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s challenge to a ballot initiative that would open Idaho’s primary elections to all voters and implement ranked choice voting for general elections, saying the matter must first be addressed by a lower court.

"Today’s decision is a major victory for the voters of Idaho," said Luke Mayville, co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, which is part of the open primaries coalition. "The Supreme Court has rejected the AG’s attempt to game the system and keep the Open Primaries Initiative off the ballot. The people of Idaho will now have a chance to vote YES on Prop 1 and give all Idaho voters — including independents — the right to participate in every taxpayer-funded election."

The decision means the Supreme Court will not hear oral arguments in the case. 

“Today the Idaho Supreme Court dismisses the attorney general’s petition on procedural grounds,” the Supreme Court’s opinion read in part. “Allegations of fraud in the gathering of signatures in the initiative process are serious. Those allegations, however, must be adjudicated in the district court in the first instance. The attorney general’s petition fundamentally misapprehends the role of this court under the Idaho Constitution and the role of the secretary of state under the initiative laws enacted by the Idaho Legislature.” 

In late July, Labrador filed a challenge with the Idaho Supreme Court, aiming to block the Idahoans for Open Primaries initiative from appearing on the ballot in November. The initiative has gathered enough valid signatures to qualify for the Nov. 5 general election. 

Labrador’s complaint argued that signature gatherers did not adequately explain that the proposed ballot measure would implement ranked choice voting for general elections and thus deceived voters. The attorney general also alleged that the measure violates Idaho’s constitutional requirement that initiatives address only one subject. 

Initiative organizers have denied these allegations.

Labrador had asked the court to either prevent Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane from including the ballot title on November ballots or order McGrane to invalidate signatures in favor of the initiative. 

The court held Tuesday that, while the law is clear that “signatures obtained through fraud are null and void,” the authority to determine whether fraud occurred rests with the district court, not the secretary of state. 

The decision does not preclude Labrador from filing an action in the district court to adjudicate whether signatures on the petition should be declared null and void due to fraud. 

It is not yet known whether Labrador will refile in the district court.

“This lawsuit is dead in the water," Mayville said Tuesday. "Even if the AG decides to try again in a lower court, he won’t have enough time before Election Day. Today’s decision guarantees that the people of Idaho will have a chance to vote YES on Prop 1 in November.”

Meanwhile, the question of whether the ballot initiative violates Idaho’s single-subject requirement won’t be “ripe for judicial review” unless it passes into law. 

“Whether the initiative violates the Idaho Constitution presents no real controversy at this time because the Initiative is simply a proposal and has not yet become law,” the opinion read in part. 

The ballot measure will need a simple majority to pass in November. It proposes two changes to elections for most public offices. 

First, the measure would abolish Idaho’s party primaries and instead create a system where all candidates participate in the same primary election and voters may vote on all candidates. The top four vote-earners for each office would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.  

The measure would also create an instant runoff or ranked choice voting system for the general election.  

In that system, voters choose their favorite candidate and may then rank up to three other candidates in order of preference. Voters are not required to rank more than one candidate. 

If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote after the first-choice rankings are counted, then the candidate who received the fewest votes is eliminated and each vote for that candidate is redirected to the voter’s second choice. This process would repeat until one candidate receives at least 50% of the vote.