On February 15, the Idaho House State Affairs Committee passed HB 439. Current law lets independent voters affiliate with the Republican Party on primary day if they wish to vote in that day’s Republican primary. The bill says that independents can no longer do that unless they have joined the Republican Party several months before the primary.

If the bill passes, it would not affect the ability of independents to choose a Democratic Party primary ballot, because the Idaho Democratic Party has long asserted its right to let independents vote in its primary.