More Prop 1 Lies

Proposition 1, the initiative to radically transform our election system into a jungle primary and ranked choice voting, is overwhelmingly opposed by Idaho Republicans. The Idaho GOP State Central Committee and the Republican National Committee passed resolutions condemning it, our national delegation opposes it, our state Republican legislators voted to prohibit ranked choice voting in the last session, the Gov. Brad Little opposes it, Attorney General Raúl Labrador opposes it, and even Donald Trump has denounced ranked choice voting.

You can imagine my disappointment every time I read some new editorial or mailer that attempts to convince Republican voters to support this nonsense.

Remember that it’s simply false to call Prop 1 “open primaries.” An open primary is a partisan primary where voters can select any party’s ballot. That’s not what Prop 1 would do. Instead, it would create a top-four jungle primary, eliminating party affiliation altogether. No more Republicans, no more Democrats, just the longest ballot you’ve ever seen!

I’ve noticed that proponents of Prop 1 like to use the term “instant runoff” rather than “ranked choice voting”. For once they’re not lying, but they are still playing games with words. These are exactly the same thing, but “instant runoff” doesn’t have the same negative connotations as “ranked choice voting.” Cheerleaders for Prop 1 understand that Idaho voters don’t want ranked choice voting, so they go out of their way to avoid the phrase.

Some arguments in favor of Prop 1 claim that changing the election system is necessary for security reasons. In reality, Prop 1 would so radically alter the system that it would undermine election security. Ranked choice voting is nearly impossible to audit by hand, which would drastically reduce trust in our elections.

Others say that voters in cities and states that have adopted ranked choice voting are happy with the new system. Tell that to the Oakland School District, which went through months of recounts and lawsuits because of a quirk in the way computers counted the votes. Tell that to the people of Alaska, who already have an initiative on the ballot to repeal ranked choice voting.

The proposition’s supporters assert that it will make elections more “inclusive” and “representative,” but this is completely backwards. Prop 1 would punish those who take any hard stand on the issues, instead promoting the most banal and milquetoast candidates in every race.

Idaho voters know and trust our current election system, and those voters have seen fit to elect Republicans in more than 80% of our state’s districts. This explains why the other side supports this radical initiative - Democrats always try to change the rules when they can’t win.

Republican voters shouldn’t fall for the gaslighting. Vote no on Proposition 1, vote no on ranked choice voting.