The Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives, Lawrence Denny, is in the process of introducing a bill to convert Idaho from an open primary state, to a closed primary state. On February 5, the House State Affairs Committee voted 9-8 not to introduce such a bill. However, afterwards, two members of the Committee who had voted “no” said they will change their vote when the proposal is brought before them again. No bill on this subject has actually been introduced yet.
Last year’s Republican state convention voted overwhelmingly for the closed primary.
Have the state Democrats taken a position? A party, of course, can have an open primary if it wants one. The exception is that the legislature has the power to forbid parties from inviting members of opposing parties to vote in their primaries.
Parties should decide who chooses there nominees not the state.
Idaho currently is one of nine states with “open primary, private choice.”
According to an online account from an Idaho newspaper, the proposal is/was to change to “open primary, public declaration (or public record).” Such a change, of course, would not necessitate voter registration by party.