Idaho Top 4 Initiative with Ranked Choice Voting Certified for November Ballot

Vote
Photo by Glenn Carrie on Unsplash
Shawn GriffithsShawn Griffiths
Published: 11 Jul, 2024
1 min read

The Idaho secretary of state announced this week that Idahoans for Open Primaries turned in enough signatures for its ballot initiative to end the state's closed primary system.

The coalition of reformers, which includes Reclaim Idaho, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Veterans for Idaho Voters, and Republicans for Open Primaries, turned in more than 90,000 signatures to get on the ballot.

The secretary of state's office verified roughly 75,000 of the signatures turned in. Idahoans for Open Primaries needed about 63,000 signatures, including 6% of registered voters in 18 of the state's 35 legislative districts. 

If approved, the initiative would reform the state's elections process to conduct nonpartisan open primaries, in which all voters and candidates participate on a single primary ballot.

Like the reform model adopted in Alaska, the top four vote-getters, regardless of party, would move on to the general election which would be conducted with ranked choice ballots. 

“The right to vote is one of the most precious rights that Americans have," former Idaho Governor Butch Otter has stated.

"Every registered voter should have the right to weigh in on choosing our leaders. Independents, including a lot of military veterans, have been excluded from having their say because of the closed GOP primary.”

The initiative would enfranchise 270,000 registered independent voters who are currently denied a say in the taxpayer-funded elections process. It is one of 6 statewide reforms in the US to level the playing field for all voters. 

In this article

You Might Also Like

Joe Manchin
Joe Manchin on Taxpayer-Funded Primaries: 'They're Locking Us Out!'
While appearing on CNN host Michael Smerconish’s show, former Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, now a registered independent, told Smerconish that “we have to have open primaries” in order to get candidates who prioritize representation to run and have a chance to win....
17 Oct, 2025
-
2 min read
let us vote SCOTUS
The Constitutionality of Closed Primaries Is One Big Step Closer to the Supreme Court
This week the Supreme Court denied cert in the case of ; a case challenging Florida’s closed primary...
15 Oct, 2025
-
3 min read
broken california map
EXCLUSIVE: California Commissioner Says Lawmakers Gutted Their Funding BEFORE Prop 50
The fate of California’s independently drawn congressional districts will be decided on November 4, when voters weigh in on a legislative gerrymander and the suspension of congressional maps from the state's independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) under Proposition 50....
08 Oct, 2025
-
8 min read
fl-let-us-vote
Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Opening Florida’s Primaries to 3.4M Independent Voters
A new statewide poll finds near-unanimous agreement among both Democratic and independent voters that Florida’s primaries should be opened to the state’s 3.4 million “No Party Affiliation” (NPA) voters who are currently shut out of taxpayer-funded elections....
10 Oct, 2025
-
3 min read
Proposition 50 voter guide
California Prop 50: Partisan Power Play or Necessary Counterpunch?
November 4 marks a special election for what has become the most controversial ballot measure in California in recent memory: Proposition 50, which would circumvent congressional districts drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission for a legislative-drawn map....
01 Oct, 2025
-
9 min read