BOISE, Idaho — This story originally ran in The Idaho Press.
Supporters of an initiative to create nonpartisan open primaries and establish ranked-choice voting announced Monday they intend to sue Attorney General Raúl Labrador over his ballot titles for the initiative.
The lawsuit will likely be filed within the next week.
Labrador’s office submitted ballot titles Friday for the proposed initiative, which would need nearly 63,000 signatures from registered voters in at least 18 of 35 districts to make it onto the November 2024 ballot.
Labrador had already provided a legal review of the initiative in which he contends it's unconstitutional, and in his cover letter proposing the ballot titles, he wrote that the office would litigate if it were to make the ballot.
The attorney general’s office proposed the title that would appear on the ballot as, “measure to (1) replace voter selection of party nominees with nonparty blanket primary; (2) require ranked-choice voting for general voting for general election.”
Idahoans for Open Primaries, which is a coalition of several groups who oppose the closed Republican primary, argued the proposed title makes false and misleading statements about the initiative.
For example, the title says ranked-choice voting would be required, but the proposal says the election method would be “allowed,” not required. Supporters also opposed the term “nonparty blanket primary,” calling it “an obscure term that is almost entirely absent from common usage.”
Idaho code requires the title must use “words by which the measure is commonly referred to or spoken of.”
Labrador has said the initiative does not meet the state law requiring initiatives to address a single subject. Supporters of the initiative say its single subject is elections.
Former attorney general Jim Jones, who has been a vocal critic of Labrador and supported his opponent in the previous election, is among the supporters of the Open Primaries Initiative. He disagreed with the office's legal analysis.
Jones said in a statement, “The Attorney General has made it clear that he intends to file legal action against the initiative on the ridiculous claim that it deals with more than one subject. That is a gross violation of his duty of impartiality. The titles he devised are treacherously designed to play into his false claim. Labrador’s legal analysis uses the wrong legal standards and it won’t hold up in court, but it will cost the taxpayers a bundle of money in attorneys’ fees for both sides.”
Labrador’s office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Although his office deemed the initiative proposal unconstitutional in his review, it was only advisory in nature and the coalition was given the green light Friday by Secretary of State Phil McGrane to start collecting signatures.
The supporters said they will ask the court to expedite its decision on the ballot titles when they file the lawsuit and will launch the signature drive once there is a ruling.
The coalition filed its ballot initiative in early May. Since then, more than 800 Idahoans from 72 different towns have signed up to volunteer in the effort, according to a press release.
Idahoans for Open Primaries have said the closed primary elections block independent voters from participating. It also would put in place ranked-choice voting, also known as instant runoff.
The Open Primaries Initiative would create a “top four” primary election. All candidates participate in the same primary election and the top four candidates advance to the general election. Voters then choose the winner in a general election with instant runoff voting, which gives voters the freedom to pick their top candidate and then to rank additional candidates in order of preference.
After the first choices of all ballots are counted, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated. Votes for the eliminated candidate would be counted toward the voters’ next choice — this process repeats until two candidates remain and the one with the most votes would win.
The Legislature this year passed a bill that would ban ranked choice or instant runoff voting, and if passed, the initiative would include a provision to repeal this ban.
“Instant runoff voting ensures that the winner enjoys support from a broad coalition of voters and not just a narrow faction,” the coalition said in a press release.
A spokesperson from the Idaho GOP previously called the initiative an “idiotic idea” and an “unfair and complex voting system.”
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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