Forum to talk about pros and cons of open primaries and ranked-choice voting in Idaho

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Aside from the presidential race, the most controversial and divisive item on the Idaho ballot is the open primaries and ranked-choice voting.

On Monday night, people in Idaho Falls will have the opportunity to hear from both supporters and opponents of the change.

The forum on Proposition 1 starts at 7 pm at the Shilo Inn, 780 Lindsay Blvd., Idaho Falls, Idaho. To join online, click HERE.

The open primaries initiative would do away with Idaho's current closed primary system, and in its place establish a system where all candidates running for office appear on a single ballot. From there the top four candidates who rank the best advance to the general election.

"In the general election, the ranked choice voting allows voters to not just identify their one candidate, but then to identify their next preference and then their next preference after that," Hyrum Erikson of the Rexburg Chamber of Commerce told Local News 8. "That means that you can't get elected by having a small sliver of the voting population love you to death while a majority hates you."

In simple terms, Erikson says the system will allow more Idahoans to vote in the primary election than the current closed primary system.

The group behind proposition 1, Idahoans for Open Primaries, gathered over 100,000 signatures in support of the change.

However the initiative has also been met with heated opposition.

Some state Republicans suspect Democrats and other supporters of the proposition would use the change in the state primary system to up-end Idaho elections.

"The ranked-choice voting is basically a scheme for Democrats and leftists to try to turn Idaho blue. They know that they don't have the votes in Idaho," said Idaho Republican National Committeeman Bryan Smith.

"In Alaska two years ago, in the congressional race, the person who actually won the plurality of votes got the most votes in the first round of voting saw Sarah Palin. And the person who came in last was the Democrat. By the time they got done with ranked-choice voting, 15,000 ballots were trashed. The Democrat won, and Sarah Palin lost," said Smith.