Hearing set on closed primary case

BOISE – The future of how Idaho elects its political candidates is at stake Nov. 15, when U.S. District Court Judge Mikel Williams is due to hear to arguments in a lawsuit brought by some Republicans who want to restrict next May’s GOP primary to just those voters who are party members.

Currently, there’s no party registration in Idaho; all voters can enter the balloting booth, confidentially choose a ballot and vote for candidates of the party they select.

In June, however, members of Idaho’s GOP Central Committee passed a resolution in support of restricting their primary, prompting 72 Republicans a month later to file a lawsuit to force the state to conform. Rod Beck, a lawsuit proponent and former state lawmaker, says his group will tell Williams next month this change is needed to make certain only GOP members – not independents or crossover Democrats – get to choose GOP candidates.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in the 2007 Idaho Legislature introduced but failed to vote on a proposal for a “modified-closed primary,” in which Democrats would register and vote in Democratic primaries, Republicans would vote in Republican primaries, while independents would be still able to choose either one. The choice of ballot would have become a public record.

Secretary of State Ben Ysursa and other Republicans including state party Chairman Kirk Sullivan have argued closing Idaho’s primary could disenfranchise Idaho’s independent voters.