Idaho open primary initiative qualifies for November ballot
Spirit Lake resident Loree Peery gathered signatures for the open primary initiative outside the Coeur d’Alene Library in December 2023.
KAYE THORNBRUGH/Press file
SANDPOINT — In November, voters will decide whether to approve a ballot initiative that would open Idaho’s primary elections to all voters and create a ranked-choice voting system for general elections.
The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office announced Wednesday that the Idahoans for Open Primaries initiative has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the Nov. 5 general election.
The initiative met the required threshold of 62,895 valid petition signatures, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. This is equivalent to 6% of total registered voters from the last general election. The signatures also met the statutory requirements for distribution across at least 18 legislative districts, with a minimum of 6% of registered voters from each district.
The measure, which will need a simple majority to pass in November, 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.