Update: Closed primary/party registration plan passes Sen. State Affairs on party-line vote, with Dems opposing -- Idaho Reporter Twitter.

Gary Allen, attorney for a group of independent voters, told the Senate State Affairs Committee, “I'm here on my 50th birthday, and I can't think of any better way to spend it than talking about democracy.” He said he and his clients disagree with the federal court ruling overturning Idaho's current system, and are appealing it. Independents don't want to publicly declare affiliation with one party or another, he said. “In our view, this is an unnecessary intrusion on voters' privacy,” Allen said. “Frankly, our clients do not want to do this, and we've seen no evidence that other independents in Idaho want to do this either. At a time when Republican Party identification in Idaho is falling like a stone … I would not think that the Republican Party would want to poke independent voters in the eye”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Grant: 'A Republican intramural fight'
• 'Keep known political operatives from participating in another party's primary'
• 'There is no privacy' in party choice in new system, Hill tells senators
• Current Idaho GOP rules put it under SB 1198's 'default option'
• Hill: 'It's not a closed primary bill as some would call it'
• Ysursa: Primary turnout in Idaho now is 'abysmal', needs to rise

Question: Do you consider yourself a truly Independent voter who doesn't want to be affiliated with either major political party?