Bill would close Idaho primaries

BOISE – Every Idaho voter would have to re-register by political party under legislation introduced Friday at the request of the Idaho Republican Party.

Party Chairman J. Kirk Sullivan told the Senate State Affairs Committee he was representing the will of the party as expressed by a central committee vote. The panel voted 7-2 to introduce the bill, but the senators were decidedly unenthusiastic about it.

The bill, with a price tag of at least $800,000, would allow only registered Republicans to vote in the Republican primary, only Democrats to vote in the Democratic primary, and wouldn’t allow independents to vote in any primary. Nearly a third of Idahoans say they’re not affiliated with any party.

“We think this is something that would allow Republicans to elect the people that they would like to see in the general (election), and vice versa,” Sullivan told the committee, adding that most states have similar systems.

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said, “I’m not confident this is the right direction for the state of Idaho to go. If individuals are interested in having a private election, they should have the opportunity to pay for that,” rather than have the taxpayers fund it. “I don’t believe that this is what Idahoans want – they are fiercely independent in their affiliation,” Davis said. “We should respect that. … That makes Idaho different from some other states that have a closed primary system.”

Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, said the bill raises concerns about constitutionality, cost and privacy, as the new party registrations would become public information. She and Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, voted against introducing the bill. The committee’s seven Republicans voted to introduce it, but several said they won’t support it beyond that point.

“I disagree with this concept,” said Sen. Joe Stegner, R-Lewiston.

Rod Beck, a former GOP state senator who filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to force the state to close its primaries, showed up late and out of breath to the early morning committee hearing. He said Sullivan never showed him the bill, and he wasn’t satisfied with it.

“It has an $800,000 price tag on it – I think that’s exorbitant,” Beck said after the meeting. “I think this is a transparent attempt to put it in a bad light.”

He said he favors a system in which the state wouldn’t have to re-register every voter by party, but instead would allow them to register at the polls for the primary election, reducing costs. But he wants closed primaries to keep non-Republicans from voting in the Republican primary.

Idaho’s current system allows voters to select one party’s ballot at the polls for the primary election. The state’s Democratic Party has opposed closing the state’s primary elections.