Idaho has its own
voter’s lawsuit
Commentary by PAT MURPHY
If the Florida debacle of uncounted and
disqualified votes has left Americans disillusioned about the integrity of
their most cherished right on Election Day, Idaho voters are in for a real
letdown when they hear how and why their rights have been drastically
whittled down by the Republican-controlled state Legislature.
A lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District
Court in Boise challenging a 1997 amendment to the state law that allows
voters to by-pass the state Legislature and take the initiative to pass,
repeal or amend laws by gathering signatures and placing referenda on the
election ballot.
The original law only required voters to
gather signatures equivalent to 10 percent of the votes in the previous
gubernatorial election to place an initiative referendum on the state
ballot. So, petitioners could collect signatures quickly and easily by
concentrating efforts in the populous Boise and Twin Falls areas.
But in 1997, then-Rep. Ron Crane, who went
on to become Idaho’s current state treasurer, ended his 16 years in the
state House by slipping through an amendment that raised requirements.
Now, if voters want to place an issue on the ballot, they must obtain
signatures equivalent to 6 percent of the registered voters in 22 of the
state’s 44 counties. The obvious new burden is that Crane’s amendment
forces petitioners to obtain signatures in half of the state’s counties,
an almost impossible task for grassroots initiatives.
Guess what argument Crane used when
trimming the power of voters?
He claimed that voters might
"abuse" their democratic rights, an unvarnished admission that
Crane and other state Republicans don’t trust voters, only other
politicians.
Such arrogance, but not surprising.
The right to legislate by voter initiative
is pure democracy -- a way for voters to rise up against abusive and
indifferent politicians who refuse to act in behalf of voters interests.
This right was born of American colonists,
who rose up against the overbearing, authoritarian power of King George
and launched the American Revolution.
Idaho’s Republicans have a stranglehold
on state government. They’re inclined to march to the drumbeat of
well-heeled business lobbyists when conducting the people’s business.
In filing the lawsuit in federal court,
Kootenai County Commissioner Ron Rankin, who four times failed through
initiatives to put a cap on state property taxes, alleges that special
interests and corporate business interests don’t want voters tampering
with state laws.
If Republicans can effectively rob voters
of their right to initiate grassroots changes in state law, then Idaho has
done more to set back democracy than any undercounted Florida paper
ballots in Florida.
