In April of 2024, Luke Mayville, co-founder of the grassroots organization ReClaim Idaho, addressed volunteers on the final day of signature gathering for this year’s Open Primaries and Final Four Voting ballot initiative. 

“We are here today because we are tired of playing the same old game under a broken set of rules,” Luke told the 50 or so volunteers gathered in Boise’s IvyWild Park that morning. 

“The root of the problem,” Mayville stated, “ is the fact that there are 270,000 independent voters who are blocked from voting in the most important primary elections. And the root of the problem is that we don't even have competitive general elections.”

Continuing our Purple Principle (TPP) series on the record number of nonpartisan state-level election reform efforts in 2024, this episode profiles the coalition working to advance Idaho’s Open Primary initiative. The initiative is patterned in part after the Alaska “Final Four Voting” model first proposed by Katherine Gehl, author, business leader, and TPP guest earlier this season. 

Margaret Kinzel of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, or MWEG, represents another important member of this non-partisan coalition. “ One of the things that helped me sign on to being active in this effort was hearing how many of our races are uncontested in the 2022 election,”  Margaret explains. “Nine of the 38 districts, the race for state senator and the two-state representatives were uncontested. So you had no choice to vote for; you either voted for the candidate or you didn't.”

Retired Attorney General and former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice, Jim Jones, is another important coalition leader. “After the 2022 Alaska election, “Jones explains, “ it appeared to me that this was the answer to Idaho's problem because we had gotten so involved in culture wars, and the culture warriors were essentially picked by the Republican Party, which had been taken over by extremists.”

Tune in to learn more about the Idaho coalition that collected and submitted over 90 thousand signatures toward election reform in a largely conservative state and meet coalition leaders Luke Mayville (Reclaim Idaho), Margaret Wentzl (Mormon Women for Ethical Government) and former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Jim Jones. 

Sometimes a village is not enough and it takes a broad coalition to take on “a broken election system.”

The Purple Principle is a Fluent Knowledge production; original music by Ryan Adair Rooney. 

SHOW NOTES

Our Guests:

Luke Mayville, Co-founder Reclaim Idaho. Margaret Kinzel, Co-Liasson, Mormon Women For Ethical Government. Jim Jones, Former Attorney General Idaho. 

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Resources: 

https://www.reclaimidaho.org/

https://www.mormonwomenforethicalgovernment.org/

https://idahocapitalsun.com/author/jim-jones/

 https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/05/01/having-exceeded-goal-idaho-open-primary-supporters-submit-final-signatures-for-verification/

https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/04/24/idaho-open-primary-supporters-make-final-push-before-may-1-deadline/

https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/primary_elections_in_idaho.html

https://represent.us/2024-campaigns/idaho-final-four-voting/

https://store.hbr.org/product/the-politics-industry-how-political-innovation-can-break-partisan-gridlock-and-save-our-democracy/10367

https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/stcon/article_I.html#:~:text=All%20men%20are%20by%20nature,POWER%20INHERENT%20IN%20THE%20PEOPLE

https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/05/23/almost-24-of-idahos-registered-voters-voted-in-primary-election-initial-estimates-show/