Malloy: Voters yawn at big races ahead

Columnist Chuck Malloy of Idaho Politics Weekly comments:

Next year, Idahoans can look forward to one of the most exciting elections in the state’s history – with a long list of candidates lining up to run for governor, lieutenant governor and First District Congress, to name a few.

If the turnout stays true to form in primary elections, roughly 75 percent of Idaho voters will not have a say on who gets elected to those offices. Some of those sitting out will be Democrats who refuse to register as Republicans, while others simply don’t bother to vote. Sure, there will be a general election in the fall and the turnout will be higher. But there’s not a lot of suspense since Republicans almost always win the big-ticket offices.

This monster was created by closed primaries that were promoted by the GOP. But in fairness, the voting turnout would not be significantly higher with open primaries. The sad truth is that people don’t vote in May primaries, whether open or closed. More here.

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