Election 2024

Idaho voter party affiliation Republican

Voter registration data shows California Republicans  – not liberals – are flocking to Idaho

BY: - November 29, 2023

With almost 30,000 California expatriates leading the charge, the number of Republican voters moving from other states to Idaho dwarfs the number of Democrats moving here from other states. A new data visualization report released Wednesday morning by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office maps the party affiliation of 118,702 current Idaho voters who moved […]

voters cast ballots in the Idaho 2022 primary election

Idaho secretary of state says he can’t enforce new GOP voter affiliation deadline

BY: - November 16, 2023

Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said Thursday that his office cannot enforce the Idaho Republican Party’s new party rule requiring voters to affiliate with the GOP by Dec. 30 in order to vote in the party’s upcoming primary election.  Instead of enforcing political party rules, McGrane said his office is required to follow Idaho […]

COMMENTARY
Close-up of voting ballot with political parties listed

At Veterans for Idaho Voters, we believe in better government with better elections

BY: - November 10, 2023

Elections are the foundation of American representative government. Bad elections result in bad government. Unfortunately, Idaho’s political parties have gained too much control over our elections, deciding who is on the ballot and who can vote. As a result, Idaho’s taxpayer-funded elections are among America’s least competitive. Fifty out of 105 state legislative seats were […]

Idaho State Capitol building in Boise

Idaho legislative leaders sets deadline targets for 2024 session

BY: - November 3, 2023

Leaders of the Idaho Legislature released their unofficial deadlines for the upcoming 2024 legislative session on Thursday, signaling they hope to wrap the session up in March well before next year’s primary elections.  Legislative leaders hope to adjourn for the year March 22, the 75th day in session. If legislators could hit that target, that […]

voters cast their ballots at Fairmont Junior High during the Idaho Primary

Idaho will have a presidential caucus in 2024 — not a primary. Here’s how they differ.

BY: - October 16, 2023

Instead of voting in a presidential primary election, Idaho voters will pick their political party’s nominee for president in a series of presidential nominating caucuses in 2024. That’s because during the 2023 session, the Idaho Legislature seemingly unintentionally eliminated the presidential primary election by passing House Bill 138.   The Idaho Legislature did not reinstate […]

Idaho Open primary signature drive

Idahoans for Open Primaries group reaches 25,000 signatures for voting ballot initiative

BY: - October 11, 2023

Carrying a clipboard and an electronic canvassing app downloaded to their phones, Margaret Kinzel and Amanda Stark set out on foot just before 10 a.m. on Saturday morning in Meridian to talk to voters. Kinzel and Stark’s turf was a suburban residential neighborhood located in the heart of Legislative District 21 in Meridian, a solidly […]

Election workers process ballots at the Arapahoe County Elections Facility in Littleton, Colorado

States that send a mail ballot to every voter really do increase turnout, scholars find

BY: - October 9, 2023

Lately, a rough consensus has emerged among people who study the impact of voting policies: Though they often spark fierce partisan fighting, most changes to voting laws do little to affect overall turnout, much less election results. But one fast-growing reform appears to stand out as an exception. When every registered voter gets sent a […]

Idaho Election Day 2022

Voting bills eliminating use of student ID at Idaho polls are constitutional, judge says

BY: - October 3, 2023

An Ada County judge on Monday determined that two bills passed by the Idaho Legislature to eliminate the use of student ID cards for voter registration are constitutional.  The lawsuit filed in March by BABE VOTE and the League of Women Voters of Idaho challenged House Bills 124 and 340, which eliminated the use the […]

Idaho Senate In Session

Idaho House and Senate still at odds over solution to presidential primary mess

BY: - September 28, 2023

With Sunday’s Republican Party deadline closing in, members of the Idaho Legislature’s two chambers had yet to agree Thursday on a solution to address the presidential primary election that legislators unintentionally eliminated earlier this year.  Both chambers of the Idaho Legislature – the Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate – have separately advanced petitions […]

Idaho House of Representatives

Idaho House reaches support for special legislative session, but proposal differs from state Senate

BY: - September 25, 2023

More than 60% of the members of the Idaho House of Representatives have signed a petition calling for a special legislative session to essentially repeal the state law passed earlier this year that unintentionally eliminated the presidential primary election. But as of Monday afternoon, legislators had not yet received the necessary support from 60% of […]

COMMENTARY
Close-up of voting ballot with political parties listed

Idaho’s closed primaries prevent independent veterans from fully participating in our elections

BY: - September 21, 2023

According to the VA, there are nearly 128,000 military veterans in Idaho. We represent 9% of Idaho’s adult population, which is one of the highest rates in the U.S. Some Idaho vets come from families that have been here for generations, and some settled in Idaho after their service. We are as diverse and independent […]

Ada County voting

Need to register to vote? Head to the Idaho Statehouse for National Voter Registration Day.

BY: - September 18, 2023

The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office is partnering with election officials in Ada and Canyon counties to offer voter registration in front of the Idaho Capitol Building on Tuesday to celebrate National Voter Registration Day, according to a press release. The voter registration drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 19 […]