Resolution to Oppose Proposition 1 and Ranked Choice Voting

WHEREAS the Blaine County Republican Party is committed to limited government, strong local communities, independent families, and freedom of the individual;

WHEREAS to allow those who have no loyalty or allegiance to the Republican Party to select our candidates is simply not proper;

WHEREAS the Idaho Republican Party opposes ranked-choice voting and any other iterations of ranked-choice voting such as STAR voting, ballot exhaustion, and instant run-off; 

WHEREAS the purpose of the Blaine County Republican Central Committee is to establish all policies and functions of the Republican Party on the county level consistent with the rules and regulations of the Idaho Republican Party;

WHEREAS the Top-Four Primary and Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative will be on the ballot as Proposition 1 in the 2024 general election;

WHEREAS America has operated on a well-understood and relatively uniform election system for over two hundred years to support our Constitutional Republic;

WHEREAS the United States was founded on the concept of the “one person, one vote,” and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees our right to participate in an election on an equal basis with others and does not permit some votes to carry more weight than others;

WHEREAS under a Ranked Choice Voting system, voters risk having their ballot exhausted if they don’t rank more than one candidate, disenfranchising voters who do not support multiple candidates who do not represent their values, and putting pressure on voters to rank more than one candidate which is a form of compelled speech that violates our First Amendment rights;

WHEREAS the First Amendment guarantees Americans the right to associate with fellow citizens through participation in a political party, the Idaho Republican Party and its affiliated voters have the right to determine who represents the party and their beliefs, and an open primary system undermines those rights;

WHEREAS Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane has estimated that acquiring new equipment for Idaho counties to implement Ranked Choice Voting would cost at least $25 million to $40 million dollars in addition to the millions of dollars that will need to be spent on educating voters about the new system;

WHEREAS ranked-choice voting changes and delays the election-counting process by requiring ballots to be transported to a centralized location for counting due to multiple rounds of tabulations in the event of an instant runoff, causing delays of days or weeks in the delivery of election results;

WHEREAS other states and jurisdictions that have implemented this system of voting are now working to repeal it, and when voting laws are altered, expensive lawsuits often follow;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Blaine County Republican Central Committee (BCRCC) hereby condemns and opposes the implementation of ranked-choice voting and similar schemes including but not limited to “open primaries” or “jungle primaries” as a method for electing candidates in the great state of Idaho;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BCRCC urges voters to vote against this proposition and support traditional voting methods to maintain election integrity in the state of Idaho;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BCRCC calls on Congress and the Idaho legislature to enact laws to uphold election systems that have worked for centuries for fair and transparent elections;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BCRCC calls on all Legislative District 26 candidates to affirm their support for traditional election systems and oppose the Top-Four Primary and Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative by notifying us of their position on Proposition 1 or before September 15, 2024;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chairman of BCRCC is hereby directed to publicize the responses of all Legislative District 26 candidates on the BCRCC website and write an op-ed for distribution to media outlets in Legislative District 26;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Idaho Republican Party, the Idaho Secretary of State, and the Idaho Attorney General.

Approved by the Blaine County Republican Central Committee on August 14, 2024