On April 13, Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed HB 351, which lets each party decide for itself which voters may vote in its primary. It is expected that the Democratic, Constitution, and Libertarian Parties will continue to let all voters vote in their primaries. Generally the two qualified minor parties don’t have contested primaries anyway, and when there are no contests, the state doesn’t print up primary ballots.
It is also expected, but not certain, that the Republican Party will provide that only registered Republicans may vote in the Republican primary. For the 2012 primary, voters can choose to register into a party at the polls. But in later years, voters will need to have joined a party (that has chosen a closed primary for itself) several months before the primary.
It never did make sense to have those tax payers pick up the tab for a primary only to be told you can’t vote in our primary. Maybe the Republicans can go back to electing candidates at convention. That way only members will choose the nominee.
Historical footnote:
When Otter was Lt. Governor back in the early 1990s, he was a keynote speaker for a Libertarian Party state convention. Back then he referred to himself frequently as a “libertarian.”
The condition for a party to not have ballots is a combination of not having any contested nominations and not having any candidates for more than 1/2 of the federal and statewide offices on the ballot. It appears that the Constitution and Libertarian parties have avoided a primary by deliberately having fewer candidates.
In the past, this would have meant that they would not have a party section on the single ballot given to voters (who would pick a party in the polling booth).
It is not clear how the primaries for these parties will now be administered. Conceivably, there could be contested nominations for county office or the legislature that would require a primary in certain localities, and not others. And since most voters will probably wait until the 2012 primary to affiliate with a party, if the Libertarian or Constitution party don’t have a primary very few voters will affiliate with them.
Under the law, unaffiliated voters may always affiliate on primary day. The earlier deadline is on disaffiliation or re-affiliation.
The choice of party affiliation and choice of party ballot are two separate choices. So unless the Republicans close their 2012 primary, voters can choose to remain unaffiliated and also vote in the Republican primary.
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