This Will WRECK Idaho Prop1 is THAT bad. Here’s why …
By Idaho Senator and Freedom Caucus Member Brian Lenney
Nampa
Idaho is under attack by out-of-state, progressive elites who want to destroy our way of life. These far-left activists have watched in frustration as their radical policies fail time and time again in Idaho. They can’t stand that our state has remained a bastion of conservative values, so now they’re resorting to dirty tricks to dismantle our elections.
Prop 1 is a Trojan horse, disguised as a simple change to our primary system, but it’s nothing more than a ploy to rig our elections in favor of the radical left. The backers of Prop 1 have lied to Idahoans, claiming it will create a new “open” primary. The truth? It will blow up our current system, replacing it with a convoluted Top 4 primary that paves the way for left-wing radicals to gain a foothold in Idaho.
But the deception doesn’t stop there…
The most sinister part of Prop 1 is what it will do to our general elections. Right now, Idaho’s counties, like Bonner and Boundary, use secure paper ballots, hand-counted to ensure election integrity. Prop 1 will destroy that, forcing us to adopt shady voting systems, like the infamous Dominion machines, and introduce Ranked Choice Voting—a confusing, fraud-prone process that will undermine the sanctity of your vote.
Imagine going to the polls and being forced to rank radical candidates like Kamala Harris alongside true patriots like Donald Trump.
Under Prop 1, if you don’t play their game, your ballot might be thrown out. This is not just an attack on our election process; it’s an assault on the very concept of one person, one vote.
Prop 1 will make our elections more chaotic, less secure, and way more expensive. It’s a leftist scheme to turn Idaho into the next California—a state overrun by progressive policies that have driven people to flee in droves. We cannot let that happen here. Idaho is a beacon of freedom in a country that’s increasingly falling under the grip of leftist tyranny.
We must protect it.
Vote NO on Prop 1 this November 5, and tell your friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.
We will not let the radical left destroy Idaho.
Elections, including primaries, belong to people, not parties
By Mike Weland
Publisher
Where oh where do I start on this radical right wing nonsense? Disrespect intended, how do such people get elected? How about I just start at the top. The headline.
I used the headline the Senator provided, unedited, because it does just what a good headline should do — it sets the tone for what follows. This one starts out badly, lurches once or twice, rolls backward and keels over, the goal now further away than when the tale began.
Like the headline, this is a poorly-written and fallacious diatribe that did in no way WRECK Proposition 1.
First off, Idaho is not under attack by out-of-state, progressive elites who want to destroy our way of life. That is nothing but MAGA hyperbole initiated by the lies of candidate Trump in 2015 to give his flock an enemy. No, the Democrats he refers to are now actually the adults in the room — they are not the attackers, but the defenders, protecting our constitution against all enemies — including the tantrum-throwing immature brats of the domestic variety.
The current system of Idaho’ s closed primaries was brought about by the Republican Party in 2011 because it strongly favors the party with a super-majority. In Idaho, that party at the time was the GOP, and it allowed the rise of the party’s radicals, such as Lenney and his fellow Idaho Freedom Caucus compatriots, perhaps the worst-named group ever because the only thing they have to do with freedom is to take freedoms and rights away.
The “conservative” GOP contends that political parties are like private clubs, with membership seen as a privilege and contingent on paying dues and abiding its rules and dictates. That allows the proliferation of the radical “freedom” factions and empowers their self-appointed functionaries to “rate” candidates of the party not on public service, but on how well they toe the party line and do as they’re told.
Only members should vote in their party’s nominating, or primary, election, they insist, That way they’re sending their champions, for example true patriot Donald Trump, to do battle against the rest of the rabble, for example radical candidates like Kamala Harris.
But when a primary candidate goes to the general election unchallenged, as is often the case in elections wherein on party has a supermajority, the party faithful most likely to turn out for a primary, typically its most radical, have filled another seat, putting someone loyal to the party in a position of power and a mandate to deprive constituents not of the party of services entitled.
But that view is inimical to the constitution, which says nothing about political parties, only that no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of a citizen of the United States, the right to vote by qualified voters the cornerstone of our constitutional republic.
The constitution does not empower or grant any measure of authority to any political party. Like any other group, cabal or confederation, those members who are U.S. citizens enjoy the same rights; to peaceful assembly, to free speech and expression, but the group, as an entity, is a thing, an assembly, not a citizen, a person.
If no state may make laws prohibiting or making it more difficult for an enfranchised citizen to cast a ballot, why would a political party, a group dedicated to coordinate candidates with similar political and ideological ideas and goals to compete in elections, promote such restrictions?
Because that party has become about itself and its obedient members to the detriment of a government obligated to serve all its citizens.
It is is no longer interested in we, the people, only we, the faithful in our party. And that party now guilty is usurped by a presidential candidate who says the party is me. The party radicals agree in an ovine frenzy.
Elections, to include primaries, belong to we, the people, and every citizen eligible should have the right to vote in the primary election of their choice, for they are voting for public servants, not parties, for fellow citizens in good standing who can most ably represent their interests, not a lackey beholden to toe the party line.
Mike,
You are spot on with your commentary! A closed primary is an attack on freedom of choice for voters. The fact that one has to register for any party affiliation is just wrong. To vote for a candidate of any party should be your choice and your choice alone.
The Idaho Freedom Caucus has done nothing for Idaho but harass fellow legislators if they don’t agree with them, and keep good legislation from passing if they don’t agree with it, even if it’s good for Idahoans! With an open primary we will be able to purge these people from our legislative bodies in Boise.
Please support the open primary and vote for PROP 1.
Bruce Whittaker
Naples, Idaho
Thank you, Mike.
Thank you, Bruce
You both told the truth; the state senator did not.
As the Boundary County leader of the Open Primaries Team, I just want to add that almost 2,000
volunteers like myself worked for almost a year preparing to explain the initiative to other voters.
Then we collected enough valid voter signatures to qualify the Citizens’ Initiative for the upcoming ballot.
I personally collected well over 300, which shows how 2,000 volunteers were able to accomplish it. That and the
overwhelming popularity of this initiative.
No matter how the opposition, from local John Birch Society members all the way up to
our MAGA Idaho Attorney General, lie and try to undermine our grassroots Idaho work,
the fact that we volunteers are all Idahoans for Open Primaries remains the unvarnished truth.
Proposition 1 will bring more registered voters who are Independent of the political parties to
vote in primary elections in Idaho. That’s a good thing.
Proposition 1 will result in each of us selecting the right representatives for us instead of
special-interest representatives for a tiny percentage of voters. That’s a good thing.
Proposition 1 includes a CHOICE each voter in the general election will be given: to
rank the candidates they choose. We will not have to choose more than one in the general,
but it’s to our advantage as voters because if our first choice is eliminated in the automatic
runoff process, our second choice has a good chance to represent us. That’s a very good thing.
Clarice McKenney