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Thanks for this. You're correct, that most Idahoans liked the idea of the open primary, but bought in to the poison pill assault on RCV.

There is a national bill that is in the Congress right now for nationwide open primaries (HR 115): https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/FMfcgzQZSsBptPZQVxfqtqPkZrZwgxvc

It makes sense for states to be able to determine whether they want to go to the trouble and expense of runoff elections, or if they want to do it on election day with RCV. Regardless of the propaganda, all RCV does is ensure the winner achieves a majority of the vote, just as happens in runoff elections.

To your 'divide the vote' point: In this most republican of all states, there would be a real possibility that all the primary candidates would be of one party, but the voters would STILL be able to choose a republican candidate whose views are congruent with their own, rather than being limited to candidates vetted by the party who are beholden to the IFF and whichever out of state money contributed to their campaign. If there were a democratic candidate and they were elected due to vote splitting among the republicans, you'd have a democrat for at least two years. Life would go on, and the next cycle, the republican candidates would likely do maneuvering like Nick Begich did in Alaska, and convince some of the other candidates to withdraw.

If Prop 1 had passed, we'd still have the rightward swing in the legislature that we have from the last election, but voters would be able to a wider choice of candidates in 2026.

Closed partisan primaries are rigged elections in a one-party state. It isn't working well for Idaho.

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I appreciated Mr. Taggart's perspective on RCV and OP and it reflects many of the concerns - and a circumscribed understanding - of the many favorable aspects of RCV that were not made clear to voters. I completely agree with Mr. Taggart's assessment of OP and it solves some of our candidate issues for the primary. A glaring issue we have in Idaho is the undue weight in our primaries; less than a third of voters participate but make the choices, and often a single candidate goes forward to the general election. Unfortunately then, the majority of voters that go to the polls for the general election, now have little choice.

Having RCV with a top 3 to 5 candidates moving up from the primaries has several advantages. We must all now engage in that long standing and venerable democratic process of having candidates debate their ideas, listen to their constituents, and form their platforms accordingly. Voters must now take up their democratic duty and be attuned and engage with the candidates, selecting those that most closely represent their issues and concerns. In the general election Idaho's favored party, Republican, will continue to be well represented. As we know these days, Republicans come in a variety of stripes and voters would then be able to choose among them. Ranking candidates gives voters the option of telling them how well they are addressing their issues and often we like more than one candidate. Having a majority rather than a plurality eliminates expensive run-offs, where voter participation is more like a primary. Subtler advantages is the elimination of a spoiler party or candidate, general elections tend to be more civil as issues are the focus, denigrating opponents or negative campaigns are lessened, and candidates are focused on constituents, not agendas.

All said, it may be that with OP, which is more easily understood, is where we start. I would hope that we engage in serious debate, education, and thoughtful consideration of the many positive aspects that RCV can give to voters. Certainly in this last ballot initiative, the lack of understanding of both how RCV works and it's advantages were not widely understood. As a last comment, it is interesting that the Idaho legislature passed a bill last year making RCV illegal. That tells us how powerful it can be.

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Great article! The distinction of the primary system and the voting method is HUGE!

The cannibalization effect is an interesting feature/bug in a multiplayer, multiteam contest. I hope the subject gets revisited.

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