I am an Army Veteran. I joined a group called Veterans for Idaho Voters which is a cross-partisan and independent group of Veterans who believe in fair elections, citizen involvement, sensible policies, and civil politics. We support Open Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting. Why?
There are about 80,000 Veterans in Idaho who are unaffiliated with a political party (Independents). They cannot vote in our current closed primaries unless they declare a party. I am an example. In my lifetime I have voted for members of almost all political parties and independents. In Idaho I have been forced to declare a political party if I wanted to vote in the primary. I reluctantly chose the Republican party.
I’m an Independent. I should be able to vote for whoever is running for a specific office regardless of their party. If I choose to vote for a Republican who is running for Governor and an Independent running for State Senator and a Democrat for State Representative, that should be my right. An Open Primary would allow me to do that. I should be able to vote for the person and how he/she addresses issues, not the party or the party line.
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV): In the general election, I like the opportunity to rank the candidates for a specific office according to my preference. I believe it will – encourage candidates to refrain from bashing another candidate and, instead, talk about issues and policies. Candidates who attack their opponents would be less likely to be ranked second or third by those who support these opponents. RCV also insures that the ultimate winning candidate receives over 50% of the votes; thus it is an “instant runoff” and should insure that the winner most closely aligns with the values of most of his/her constituents; in other words (hopefully) sensible policies and civil politics.
If you are a veteran, consider joining our group. If you are not, check out our website at www.v4iv.org I think you will be surprised at who our membership includes.
Gray Henderson
Bonners Ferry