On March 26, the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee introduced S1244, the newest attempt to close Idaho’s primaries. Existing law lets voters choose a party’s primary ballot in the privacy of the voting booth on primary election day. S1244 would provide for partisan registration. If enacted, registered members of a party could only vote in that party’s primary, but independent voters could choose any party’s primary ballot. Parties would not have the discretion to bar independents from voting in their primary.

Although the Secretary of State supports this bill, the County Recorders (who administer elections) do not. No one yet knows if the bill will pass this year.

Since most voters are not likely to go to the bother of re-registering (assuming they are already registered to vote), the bill provides that they can choose their party affiliation at the polls, in the May 2008 primary.