Idaho Lawmakers Are Going After the Ballot Initiative Process

Idaho Capitol Building
Photo by from Keri Lund on Flickr and used under creative commons license.
Published: 09 Jan, 2025
Updated: 18 Jun, 2025
2 min read

Idaho lawmakers are still fuming that citizen-led groups tried to change the way the state elects its lawmakers. The 2024 initiative failed, but now a bill in the legislature would make it harder for any ballot proposition to pass.

Rep. Bruce Skaug introduced the bill in the House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday. If approved and signed into law, it will raise the vote threshold needed to pass citizen initiatives to 60%.

It has 11 co-sponsors.

Skaug told committee members that the purpose of the bill was to curtail the influence of out-of-state money in the initiative process. "This is one way to level the playing field a little bit by raising it to 60%," he said.

In November, Idaho voters weighed in on Proposition 1, which proposed a complete overhaul to state elections, including implementing a nonpartisan top four primary with ranked choice voting (RCV) in the general election.

Under a nonpartisan primary system, all voters and candidates participate on a single ballot.

Proposition 1 was spearheaded by a coalition called Idahoans for Open Primaries and the group Reclaim Idaho. More than $5 million was raised in support of it, including contributions from out-of-state groups.

Luke Mayville, a lead organizer for Prop. 1, called Skaug's bill “a shameless attempt to silence Idaho voters.” 

The irony of the bill is that it doesn't do anything about what Skaug says is the issue. In fact, if anything, it invites more money into the process because groups will need to spend more to reach voters.

IVP Donate

But moving the goal post on voters to effect change in their state has increasingly found its way into more legislative bodies in recent years. In fact, in 2022, research found over 60 laws were proposed in 11 states in a 5-year period.

These states were not controlled by a single party and included Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Maine, Missouri, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Washington.

Skaug's bill also imposes a tougher barrier on a citizen initiative process that the Idaho Supreme Court ruled in 2021 was a fundamental right to state voters and an effort to curtail it would be a violation of voters' rights.

A 60% threshold would be a standard that doesn't exist in any other election in the state, which is made more interesting by the fact that many state lawmakers rejected a new voting method (RCV) that requires majority winners.

In its 2021 ruling, the state supreme court noted that state lawmakers cannot use an "unsubstantiated fear of the ‘tyranny of the majority,’ by replacing it with an actual ‘tyranny of the minority."

Related articles

Gerrymandering, Primaries, and Election History: How It Really Works
Gerrymandering, Primaries, and Election History: How It Really Works
The nation’s attention is currently on the ongoing redistricting fight between Republicans and Democrats. The conversation is being framed: “Donald Trump is doing this.” “Gavin Newsom is doing that.” However, what voters are missing is the context of how we got here....
08 Aug, 2025
-
1 min read
Cartoon hand placing a ballot into a box that says primary on it with a GOP elephant and Democrat donkey in the background.
Hate Gerrymandering? Let’s Start Voting in Primaries
Responding to pressure from President Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Republican-controlled legislature are moving forward with a plan to redraw their district lines in advance of the 2026 midterms. Democrats are contemplating how to fight back and blunt any gains the GOP makes in Texas by conducting their own gerrymanders in New York, Illinois, and California.  ...
07 Aug, 2025
-
4 min read
state of Louisiana with a closed stamp over it.
Louisiana’s New Voting System: Closed, Confusing, and Costly
Louisiana is making the switch to closed partisan primaries for some elections in 2026, using a system that will no doubt confuse many of the state’s registered No Party voters, who are about to add approximately 151,000 people to their numbers. ...
30 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read

Latest articles

California Capitol Building
California Legislative Counsel Refuses to Provide Republican Member Legal Services
On August 12, Republican California Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (San Diego) sent a letter to the Director of California's Legislative Counsel, Cara Jenkins, requesting a legal opinion on what he calls an “unconstitutional effort for mid-cycle redistricting.”...
14 Aug, 2025
-
5 min read
Gavin Newsom frowning
Gavin Newsom Has a Big Problem
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Governor Gavin Newsom is finding out the hard way that Californians, especially...
14 Aug, 2025
-
3 min read
Elon Musk America Party
How Is Elon Musk’s Third Party Planning Going?
The America Party was announced in the middle of a public breakup between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. The two parted ways at the end of May. Musk criticized Trump’s signature tax cut and his “Big Beautiful Bill,” which tied immigration crackdowns to massive new spending. ...
13 Aug, 2025
-
4 min read