On August 23, the Idaho Supreme Court unanimously rejected two recent laws that handicap the ability of people to pass initiatives. Reclaim Idaho v Denney, 48734 and 48760. Here is the 55-page opinion, written by Justice Gregory Moeller.
The decision strikes down a 2021 law that required signatures of 6% of the registered voters in all 35 legislative districts in the state. The decision also strikes down a 2020 law that said no initiative can take effect until July 1 of the year following the election.
The decision uses strict scrutiny, and says that there is no compelling state interest in requiring signatures from all 35 legislative districts. Page 42 of the decision says, “This power (the initiative) is meaningless unless it is accessible.” Page 37 says, “There is simply no logical reason why a ballot proposition supported by 6% of the voters in 34 of the 35 legislative districts has not clearly established that it has statewide support.” The opinion also contains a history of the use of the statewide initiative throughout its existence, and points out that even under the old law, very few initiatives qualified in any one election year.
The decision held that one set of plaintiffs lacked standing, but another set did have standing. Justice John Stegner wrote separately to say that he thought all plaintiffs had standing, and that standing is generally more relaxed under state constitutions than under the U.S. Constitution. Justice Robyn Brody wrote separately to say that although she agrees with the holding, she would not have applied strict scrutiny, but rather a balancing test. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news.
