Don't try and fix what isn't broken

Prop 1 is on the ballot in November. It proposes a complete overhaul of Idaho’s election system, eliminating party primaries and using a complicated and expensive ranked choice voting system for the general election.

Why replace a system that is simple, and everyone understands with one that is complicated, and few understand? Idaho currently uses a system that is simple, one person/one vote where the candidate receiving the most votes wins. Candidates are vetted in the party primary election which anchors the candidate to a set of principles called the party platform. This helps people make an informed decision when casting their vote. Ideas compete in the general election and the candidate with the ideas the public favors wins the election. Easy to audit and correct errors. 

Prop 1 proposes to scrap the above system and replaces it with a jungle primary where a bunch of candidates run with no party affiliation allowed. Personality, not ideas, dominates here. Only the top four make it to the general election. Then a complicated system called ranked choice voting selects the winner. RCV can only be implemented using a very expensive computer system and is nearly impossible to audit. 

Vote no on Prop 1 on Nov. 5. Don’t try to fix what is not broken. 

GREGORY LAMBERTY

Bonners Ferry