Put the power where it belongs

Dear Editor:

 The people urging you to vote no on Proposition 1 think you’re too stupid to count to four. Alaskans used ranked-choice voting, and 85 percent of voters said it was simple. But Prop. l opponents think you’re too stupid to select your favorite candidate in an open primary and then rank your choices among the top four in the general election.

 Are you dumber than your Idaho forebears of 1910? Idaho had ranked-choice voting more than a hundred years ago! Let’s quash the balderdash about Prop. l being a liberal, left-coast, oh -they-want-to-turn-our-state-blue campaign. It’s simply not true.

 In deep red Idaho, where 59 percent of voters are registered Republicans, it’s possible that all four candidates who advance to the general election ballot will be Republicans. However, unlike in a closed primary, they will be the candidates who appeal to the entire electorate, not just the 24-percenters. That’s right: In Idaho’s closed primary system, as few as 24 percent of eligible voters who are allowed to vote in closed primaries end up determining-who “represents” us.

 Did you vote in an Idaho primary prior to 2011? Chances are, you voted in an open primary. Prior to 2011, Idaho’s primary elections were open to all registered voters. Was the Gem State awash in leftist politicians and liberal policies during the open-primary era? Not exactly.

 What are Idaho’s GOP elites so afraid of? Why do they insist on locking more than 275,000 unaffiliated Idaho voters out of the voting booth? The answer is obvious: The party bosses and extremists want to hold on to power.

 Let’s put the power back where it belongs: in the hands of all of Idaho’s qualified voters.

 I’m a lifelong Republican, and I urge you to join me in restoring Idaho’s open primaries. Vote yes on Prop.1.

Wendy Green

Indian Valley