Signatures were filed for a citizen-initiated ballot measure to adopt ranked-choice voting (RCV) in Idaho. The ballot initiative would replace partisan primaries with top-four primaries, in which candidates, regardless of political affiliation, are listed on the same ballot, and the top four vote-getters advance to the general election. RCV would then be used in general elections. The ballot initiative would enact a system similar to Alaska’s, which voters approved in 2020.
On May 1, 2024, the campaign Idahoans for Open Primaries reported submitting 94,795 signatures. At least 62,896 signatures need to be valid, including signatures from six percent of the qualified electors in each of 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.
Luke Mayville, co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, which is a member of Idahoans for Open Primaries, said, “Far too many independent voters are being excluded from voting in the most… competitive primary elections and then a whole lot of voters feel like when they show up to vote they just don’t like the quality of the choices that are on their ballot.”
Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon, who opposes the initiative, said, “The ballot initiative that Reclaim Idaho is collecting signatures for are complex strategies that essentially sideline political parties from the primary process, enabling Democrats, independents or even Socialists to determine your nominee for the general election.”
The Idaho State Legislature passed a bill prohibiting RCV in 2023. Gov. Brad Little (R) signed the bill on March 24, 2023. The law says, “No county elections office shall use ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting to conduct an election or nomination of any candidate in this state for any local government, statewide, or federal elective office.” The ballot initiative would repeal the bill.
Nevada and Oregon are slated to vote on ballot measures to adopt RCV in Nov. 2024. Voters in Alaska will decide on an initiative to repeal the top-four RCV, which was adopted in 2020. Measures have also been proposed in Colorado, Missouri, and Montana.
From 2002 to 2023, voters in five states have decided on state ballot measures to adopt ranked-choice voting. The first was Alaska in 2002, when the initiative was defeated. Maine became the first state to adopt RCV, which voters approved in 2016. In 2018, voters in Maine approved a referendum to postpone and repeal RCV, unless a constitutional amendment was passed. In 2020, voters in Alaska and Massachusetts voted on RCV. While 50.55% of voters approved the initiative in Alaska, 54.78% rejected the measure in Massachusetts. In 2022, Nevadans approved an initiated constitutional amendment to adopt top-five RCV, which requires ratification for a second time in 2024.
Between 1965 and 2023, at least 74 ranked-choice voting (RCV) local ballot measures were on the ballot in 54 jurisdictions in 18 states. California had the most—12—local RCV ballot measures compared to other states. Colorado had the second most—10—local RCV ballot measures. There has never been a ballot measure, at the state or local levels, regarding RCV in Idaho.
Additional: