Jungle Primaries & Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) Ballot Initiative: A Race to the Bottom - Updated 04/23/24
Open/Jungle Primaries & RCV threaten Idaho’s conservative voices. These are leftist-favored tactics to turn Idaho blue. Do not fall for Reclaim Idaho's propaganda.
🦨Leftist-Backed Jungle Primaries & RCV Stink — They are BAD FOR IDAHO!🦨
DO NOT SIGN PETITIONS OR VOTE FOR THESE BAD IDEAS!
Signature gatherers are paid for YOUR signature. Don’t help them destroy Idaho.
Introduction
Note: If you signed a Ranked Choice Voting petition and regret your decision before the signatures are counted, ask your COUNTY CLERK to help you remove the signature.
Ranked choice voting (RCV) was already prohibited by law in Idaho via House Bill 179, but leftist backed group Reclaim Idaho is trying to overturn voter choice with a ballot initiative that eventually will destroy Idaho’s primary and general elections. (In Idaho, the primary elections often determine the general election winners, so open primaries are particularly harmful.)
The Reclaim Idaho ballot initiative proposes to completely restructure Idaho’s election system in two main ways that will harm conservatives and turn Idaho into Colorado and any other blue state you can name:
Require all primaries to use a wide-open “top-four” scheme technically termed a “jungle” primary. The current partisan primary, where Republican voters vote for the Republican nominee, would be abolished. Replacing it would be a “top four” primary, where all candidates are on the ballot, and voters can choose any one of them. The top four vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation (or lack thereof).
Implement Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in our general elections. The general election would be conducted via an instant runoff, also known as ranked choice voting. In this system, voters rank candidates by order of preference, and votes are counted in multiple rounds. If nobody receives an outright majority, the lowest vote-getter is eliminated. This process — which requires computer intervention (what could go wrong?) and eliminates voted ballots — continues until one candidate has a majority. That candidate is then declared the winner.
Freedom Bro Greg Pruett states: “Liberals in Idaho are pushing hard to get Rigged (Ranked) Choice Voting on the ballot in 2024. I can't begin to emphasize enough how dangerous RCV is to Idaho's conservative future. It wouldn't take more than 1 or 2 election cycles for our state to begin turning purple.” [Must-watch 55-minute video!]
Alaska already tried RCV, which failed to achieve anything good for the state. In some cases, the “winner” of a race (e.g., Murkowski over Trump-backed Tshibaka) was NOT the first choice of most voters. The video explains how this happens. Other locales also have tried RCV, again with regrettable results. Many, including Alaska, are trying to repeal or have abandoned RCV.
How Does Ranked Choice Voting Work?
The one-minute video below explains RCV in a nutshell.
And here’s a less than two-minute video.
The following is a general description of RCV from StopRCV.com, a website highlighting Ranked Choice Voting dangers (each implementation may vary slightly):
Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV), also called Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV), is a complex election process where voters can rank multiple candidates for a single office.
In an RCV election, if one candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, it works like any other election (the rankings are irrelevant). If no candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, then the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated. Ballots that ranked the eliminated candidate first are “adjusted” in one of two ways:
If they ranked other candidates, their next-ranked candidate is moved up to get their first-place vote.
If they did not rank other candidates, their ballot is eliminated (as if they had not voted at all).
This process is repeated until one candidate has a majority of the remaining votes. It relies on precise data entry and well-programmed computers—with more than just a few ballots, the RCV process is entirely dependent on computers to run the multiple rounds of adjustments and retabulation.
Why are Jungle Primaries and RCV Bad for Idaho?
🦨 Jungle Primaries: Each political party should decide how to nominate its own candidates. Outsiders should NOT make those important determinations. If political parties cannot nominate their own candidates, what’s the point of having parties at all?
🦨 Ranked Choice Voting: RCV is incredibly complicated for voters and election workers. It invites computer and data entry fraud. It encourages fringe candidates and radical splinter parties. It is slow (sometimes requiring multiple counting iterations). And it relies on computer technology that many voters don’t trust.
If an election scheme is too difficult to understand and explain (which RCV IS), no person should support it.
How Can You Stop the Reclaim Idaho Initiative?
Reclaim Idaho’s Open Primaries 2024 Ballot Initiative to open primaries and implement ranked choice voting must be soundly defeated!
Do not sign the petition to put this leftist initiative on the Idaho Ballot.
If this initiative does manage to make the ballot, VOTE NO!
Share the message below:
🦨 Leftist-Backed Jungle Primaries & RCV Stink — They are BAD FOR IDAHO! 🦨
DO NOT SIGN PETITIONS OR VOTE FOR THESE BAD IDEAS!
Signature gatherers are paid for YOUR signature. Don’t help them destroy Idaho.
How Can You Learn More?
Explore the following resources if you want more information:
House Bill 179 Prohibits Ranked Choice Voting: Read
RECLAIM IDAHO WEBSITE & DONATIONS
Donations to Democrats by Reclaim Idaho and its Key Employees and Founders 1/1/2020 - 10/10/23 (Source: Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine campaign finance website):
Reclaim Idaho: Sunshine Search
Luke Mayville (Director): Sunshine Search
Yvonne Sandmire (Director): Sunshine Search
Cameron Crow (Director): Sunshine Search
Tracy Olsen (Director): Sunshine Search (none found)
Deborah Silver (Treasurer): Sunshine Search
GREAT VIDEO! Freedom Bros - Ranked Choice Voting - How Bad Is It? Dustin Hurst and Greg Pruett spoke with Alaska-based anti-RCV activist Phil Izon, Director of Ranked Choice Education Association. Learn how this pernicious issue will threaten Idaho’s elections and find out which leftist organizations are behind this highly propagandized nationwide push (video 55 min): Read Newsletter | Watch Video | Visit Phil Izon’s Ranked Choice Education Website
How Alaska fought back against Rank(ed) Choice Voting. By Ward Clark (04/01/24): Read
Jacyn Gallagher (House District 9) Explains RCV in all its “glory”: Read
Stop RCV:
Key pages: What is RCV? | Risks of RCV | How to Stop RCV | Resources
IDAHO FREEDOM FOUNDATION & IDAHO GOP
IDGOP expresses concern over former Governor Otter’s divisive rhetoric and support for Reclaim Idaho’s policies such as Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Idaho GOP Chairman Dorothy Moon explains how the initiative would overturn the American principle of “one person, one vote” that has been the foundation of our republican system of government since the beginning. Read (09/13/23) | Read (09/15/23)
Capitol Clarity Week 5: Ranked Choice Voting - YouTube (02/08/24). With Dorothy Moon, Idaho GOP Chairman and Chad Ennis, Honest Elections Project: Watch (1hr) | Read
BRIAN ALMON GEM STATE SUBSTACK
The Devil’s Bargain: Read
Ranked Choice Voting and the Jungle Primary. It's nothing short of a plan to turn Idaho blue forever: Read
Ranked Choice Redux: Read
TIMOHDEE’S SUBSTACK
The Rising Star of Election Manipulation. 2024 Ballot Initiative Would Change Election Results: Read
Elections Initiative Headed to Court. The initiative would require open primaries and ranked choice voting: Read
OTHER
Death of the Primary, by Brent Regan, Kootenai County GOP: Read
The West is the Best — Idaho at War. If we let go of the rope by embracing ranked-choice voting and open primaries, Idaho will inevitably become San Francisco. The Idaho Freedom Caucus will hold the line. By IDAHO FREEDOM CAUCUS (05/25/23): Read
Help us fight Ranked Choice Voting in 2024 (Idaho Freedom Foundation 12/26/23): Read
Defeat Ranked Choice Voting! Op-Ed: Stalin Would Defeat Lincoln in Ranked Choice Voting (09/08/23). Add spoiler candidates for Lincoln and his percentage is diluted further: Read
HJR003 - Elections, highest number of vote: Proposed Constitutional Amendment (02/23/24): Read
Idaho Dispatch Article: Resolution Proposing Constitutional Amendment Banning Ranked Choice Voting Introduced in Idaho House (02/25/24): Read
A Republic or A Direct Democracy. "What we have given you, Madam, is a republic if you can keep it.” By ZITO FOR IDAHO (04/22/24): Read