Resolution Against Prop 1 and Ranked Choice Voting

The Communist Party of the USA has endorsed Ranked Choice Voting in Idaho’s Proposition 1 to turn Idaho into a liberal, socialist state. The minority Idaho Democrats also support the resolution.

Proposition 1 has received the support of out-of-state billionaires who have poured $4 million into Idaho to fund this ranked choice voting ballot initiative. These same Left-wing funders want Open Borders, Open Bathrooms, and not “Open Primaries”. But, Prop 1 is not an open primary; it is ranked choice voting.

President Trump and the Idaho Republican Party both oppose Ranked Choice Voting in Prop 1.

The Bonner County Republican Central Committee (BCRCC) considered the following resolution against Idaho’s Proposition 1, which includes Ranked Choice Voting and a Top 4 primary system. The resolution passed with 29 in favor, 2 opposed, 1 abstention and 2 absent. BCRCC members voted as follows in regards to the resolution against Proposition 1:

Ayes: Aurit, Kirschner, Horton, Chamberlain, Montani, Sauter, Paterson, Korn, Peckham, MacDonald, Bauer, Purdy, Fife, Cleveland, Linton, Nielsen, Morgan, Rasor, Dodd, Chair Herndon, Thomas, Santelli, Rudd, Rezac, Nash, Fahrig, Herndon, H., Lynn, Vaniman.

Nays: Britton, Townsend, Bokowy.

Abstain: Kee

Absent: Borisov, Connolly

 

Here is the resolution content:

WHEREAS the mission of the Republican Party is to act as the party of liberty, the party of equality, the party of opportunity for all, the party of favoritism for none and to ensure that the Republican Party is open and accessible to all Americans;

WHEREAS America has operated on a well-understood and relatively uniform election system that has been implemented for over two hundred years to support our constitutional republic;

WHEREAS the political parties in Idaho and America have created the world’s largest representative forums for debate amongst thousands of factions of American citizens all across the state and nation;

WHEREAS traditional American primary and general elections ensure that voters who support one candidate, not a plurality of candidates, are heard clearly while ranked choice voting schemes open elections to ‘ballot exhaustion’ or the disenfranchisement of voters who choose not to support multiple candidates that do not clearly represent their values;

WHEREAS ranked choice voting schemes are more complex than our traditional one person, one vote system;

WHEREAS ranked choice voting schemes require each voter to “rank” candidates on their ballot, thereby requiring each voter to become informed about the numerous candidate’s positions, policies, backgrounds, philosophies, and views;

WHEREAS the grassroots activists of the Republican Party have made it abundantly clear that they do not trust new election procedures, outcomes, and further complications of modern systems that sow additional distrust in elections, and desiring to keep voting simple and secure;

WHEREAS casting a vote in a ranked choice voting scheme is difficult, instructions are cumbersome, and ballot error rates are higher than for those of traditional elections, resulting in more citizens having their votes thrown away;

WHEREAS states and communities where ranked choice voting has been tested have consistently decreased voter participation in those communities and, in many cases, the elections have resulted in more discarded votes than counted votes;

WHEREAS ranked choice voting changes and delays the election counting process by requiring ballots to be transported to a centralized location for counting due to multiple rounds of tabulations in the event of an instant runoff, causing delays of days or weeks in the delivery of election results;

WHEREAS supporters of ranked choice voting seek to eliminate or disempower party primaries;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Bonner County Republican Central Committee rejects ranked choice voting and similar schemes that increase election distrust, voter suppression and disenfranchisement, eliminate the historic political party system, and put elections in the hands of expensive election schemes that cost taxpayers and depend exclusively on confusing technology and unelected bureaucrats to manage it.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Bonner County Republican Central Committee calls on Congress, the Idaho legislature, and voters to oppose ranked choice voting in every locality and level of government and to maintain election systems that have worked for centuries for fair and transparent elections.