Idaho’s chief election officer believes there could be a significant price tag to purchase equipment that can do ranked choice voting tabulation if the proposed Open Primaries initiative were to pass in November.

Supporters argue that it could be cheaper than he is anticipating, and that the result is worth the cost.

Secretary of State Phil McGrane wrote to the Legislative Council on July 3 to outline the information he found from researching other states who implemented ranked choice voting, and he said it cost between $25 million and $40 million to get new equipment capable of tabulating the ranked choice ballots.

“Now the petition has ripened to the point that it’s headed to the voters, I thought it was important to get some of the information out there in terms of what are the practical implications related to all this,” McGrane said in a phone interview.

He said he wanted the legislators, who would be in charge of appropriating and potentially legislating how to implement this, to be aware of some of his findings.

The Open Primaries initiative, which would create a primary election open to all voters regardless of political affiliation and implement ranked-choice voting for the general election, turned in enough signatures on July 2 to clear it to appear on the November ballot.

McGrane said he has been careful not to weigh in on the “philosophical” arguments about the initiative and did not provide his position on the idea itself because he is both the member of the executive branch who oversees the initiative process and as well as the top election officer who will implement changes if the initiative passes.

“Given my dual roles here, I am mindful of my outsized voice in the petition process and elections,” he wrote in the letter. “My office has received many questions from people on both sides of this issue along the way, many of which we were not initially able to answer. I have tried to ensure we have approached this thoughtfully and done our due diligence.”

Changing to the top four open primary could result in a savings for many counties, McGrane wrote, because every voter would receive the same ballot instead of separate pre-printed ballots for different parties.

However, McGrane told lawmakers that there may be a cost to the general election vote counting, because the two vote tabulation vendors that are certified for use in Idaho are not capable of the ranked choice tabulation. He noted that it was difficult to estimate prices because the two states that have implemented ranked choice voting statewide — Maine and Alaska — run elections differently from Idaho.

There is a nonprofit software, known as RCTab, that has been tested and would be much less expensive, but McGrane said he wouldn’t consider it unless the software was certified by the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, EAC. He said Idaho doesn’t have the resources to do its own certification process and has always relied on EAC certification. 

Per Idaho law, vote tabulation equipment does not necessarily need to be certified by the EAC and only needs to be tested and meet the EAC guidelines.

Idahoans for Open Primaries spokesperson Luke Mayville said under the law, Idaho could use the lower-cost nonprofit software. Mayville also shared with the Idaho Press a technical analysis from a former clerk of a Utah county that put in place ranked choice voting, and the clerk’s analysis found the software could be eligible for certification in Idaho.

“There is nothing in Idaho code that prevents our state from utilizing the low-cost software that is currently available to all 50 states,” Mayville said. “RCTab is a fiscally conservative option that can easily be certified in Idaho.”

McGrane also wrote in his letter that the state would likely need to do an education campaign to inform voters on the changes and how the voting process would work if the initiative were to pass. Alaska spent about $3 million on its advertising and education campaign, said Carol Beecher, director of Alaska Division of Elections.

“Other states that have implemented ranked choice voting have found that the education process is very straightforward and that ranked choice voting is very simple to explain,” Mayville said.

Mayville also said that the outcomes that supporters strive for with the election changes are well worth the cost that may be incurred at the beginning.

“The experience of other states suggests that the cost of implementing ranked choice voting is minimal,” Mayville said, ”and that the cost is well worth it in order to create an election process that gives every voter a voice.” 

The Payette National Forest invites the public to celebrate Smokey Bear’s 80th birthday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 28 at the McCall Smokejumper Base’s south lawn at 605 N. Mission St. Parking will be available at the Riverfront Park large gravel lot below Mission Street.

Smokey Bear has been an icon in promoting forest fire safety with his tagline “only you can prevent wildfires.” This celebration is to honor his legacy as the face of America’s longest-running public service campaign for over eight decades, according to a press release from Payette National Forest. 

Activities include:

• Children touring fire engines and playing “pin the bucket and shovel on the campfire”
• Singing “Happy Birthday” to Smokey Bear
• A local library reading “The True Story of Smokey Bear” 
• Raffles with Smokey Bear Prizes
• Various fire organizations collaborating to promote fire safety 

The event is a collaboration with the McCall Fire Department, Valley County Fire Wise, Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association, Idaho Department of Lands, the Wildland Firefighter Foundation and the Donnelly Library. 

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Idaho Lottery says every play benefits Idaho’s schools, students, and property tax payers.

• July 19, Idaho Lottery celebrated 35 years!
• New legislation will continue to provide funding for public school buildings.
• Learn more about Where the Money Goes.

(Broadcast Transcript)
“The lottery has provided millions of dollars in the last several, the last many years,” said Gideon Tolman, the Chief Financial Officer of Idaho Dept. of Education.

Another thing to celebrate, Friday, Idaho Lottery turned 35. Fun events at the Village consisted of games, live music, and plenty of birthday cake.

5 contestants from across the state tried their luck… digging through frosting… to find a prize in a ‘cake-stack.’

Nampa local Evan Crawford found the $10,000 reward in his pile of pastry.

“What are you planning to do with the money?” asked Meridian Neighborhood Reporter Allie Triepke.

“I am probably going to pay off some bills if I’m being honest,” said Evan Crawford, with his new-found luck, “and [buy] a few more lottery tickets of course.”

So how does the Idaho Lottery benefit students and taxpayers? We asked the state’s Dept. of Education.

“So school’s in the past, up to this point, have used it for kind of their routine maintenance, paying their maintenance team salaries, and doing their repairs on their buildings and a lot of their summer projects that they do between school years. That’s a big portion of what is spending has gone to as far,” said Tolman.

West Ada School District tells me the money has been a “significant help” for the district to maintain buildings.

Starting this year, new legislation, House Bill 521, combines state money, in part with lottery funding, to fund more public school districts.

“In this legislative package that included that piece where the lottery funding is going to be redirected, there was some additional funding from state sales tax revenues that will go to additional facilities support for schools,” said Tolman.

And good news for taxpayers, as the federal and lottery funding allows districts like West Ada to “hold off” on putting bonds on the ballot.