Idaho Falls City Council considers eliminating run-off elections

The Idaho Falls City Council will vote on a proposal Thursday that would eliminate City Council run-off elections.

The city adopted a run-off system for city council and mayoral elections under a citizen referendum in 2005. The measure passed by a vote of 7,359 in favor to 3,593 against.

Since then, the runoff has been used twice. The first decided three city council positions in 2013 at a cost to the city of $12,000. The second decided the Mayor’s race in 2017 at a cost to the city of $49,000.

Mayor Rebecca Casper told a city council work session this week, she thinks the cost is too high. Secondly, she said the quick 30-day turn-around required of run-off races does not give absentee voters enough time to exercise their right to vote.

According to facts presented to the council by the Association of Idaho Cities (AIC), Idaho Falls is the only city in Idaho with a city council run-off requirement. Idaho Falls, along with American Falls, Blackfoot, Pocatello, Boise, Eagle, Mountain Home, and Spirit Lake, are the only seven cities in Idaho that require a mayoral run-off. Historically, the AIC said run-off elections do not change the ultimate winner. That happened only once in the last 17 years, in a Mayor’s race in Eagle.