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Idaho Democrats stand strong for independent voters

Contact:  Chuck Oxley   (208) 871-4976 (office)  

BOISE, Idaho – Idaho Democrats are standing firmly behind the rights of independent voters to vote in the primary election of their choice.

A Republican coalition from the far right has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to require registration of Republican voters as a prerequisite to voting in Republican primary elections. For decades, both GOP and Democratic primary elections in Idaho have been open to members of either party.  

“The lawsuit brought by this `band of brothers’ from the political fringe will end the voter’s right to keep his or her politics private,” said Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Richard Stallings. “If this happens, your political preferences would be available to your employer, your friends, even your priest, bishop, or other clergy. It will disenfranchise thousands of voters and drive down primary election participation.” 

The Republicans who are seeking this fundamental change in state election law may have recent court rulings in their favor. However, just because something is legal, that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do, Stallings said.  

“In this case, the right thing to do is to protect the sanctity of the voting booth from prying public eyes,” Stallings said.  

Idaho Senate Democratic Leaders Clint Stennett said that it’s the far-right Republicans who are pursuing this course of action, not the moderates who have held most of the political power since the 1960s.  

“This Republican "purity project" shows that the center has been forced from power in that party. Idaho is being governed from the far right.” Stennett said. “Idaho Democrats are now at the center – we are the party of the Idaho independent voter.”

The lawsuit would mean an end to same-day registration. In the last presidential primary election, 11,510 Idaho voters registered at the polls. They represent another group that would be disenfranchised.  

Republicans and others have tried to smear the Democratic position  because Democrats have a closed delegate selection process in the late winter or early spring of presidential election years.

“This argument is ridiculous because our meeting is not an election, it's a delegate selection process,” said Wendy Jaquet, House Democratic Leader. Participants do not sign any official state documents or make official statements about partisanship. They cannot be identified through any official state requests.

“It is entirely an internal Democratic Party process, paid for with private funds,” Jaquet said. “There’s simply no comparison between this meeting and a full-blown election.”