A legal battle may be brewing over an attempt by initiative sponsors in Idaho to open the state’s political primary system.
Members of the coalition group Idahoans for Open Primaries say Attorney General Raul Labrador has assigned an inaccurate title to their ballot measure.
The would end the practice of requiring voters to declare a party affiliation before casting ballots in primary elections. It would also allow a ranked choice, or top four, voting system.
Labrador reviewed the measure, as he is legally obligated to do, and sent his opinion to the Secretary of State’s office.
Todd Achilles from the group Idaho Task Force for Veterans of Political Innovation disagrees with Labrador's interpretation, saying both provisions are directly related to a single subject, elections. He says Labrador is also wrong about the ranked choice part, saying people have the option of ranking candidates.
Achilles says Labrador is simply trying to stop something with which he disagrees.
“From the very beginning, when we first filed the initiative, the attorney general came out on Twitter and said this needs to be defeated, which is completely inconsistent with his role as attorney general, basically the state’s chief attorney. He’s put politics way above his role," Achilles said.
Labrador’s office responded with a statement that the AG “furnished a ballot measure title with a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the measure, without prejudice or partisanship.” It adds that Labrador “will be happy to defend the fulfillment of his statutory duties in litigation.”
Idahoans for Open Primaries is appealing to the state Supreme Court to settle the legal questions before it sends people out to begin collecting signatures.
