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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho voters seeking to change their political party affiliation before this year's presidential primary election would be up against a tight deadline under new legislation introduced Monday.
The bill, approved by the Senate State Affairs Committee through a voice vote, would cut off party affiliation changes on the second Friday of February. That would be Feb. 12 this year. The current deadline is March 12.
Chief Deputy Secretary of State Tim Hurst says current law allows people to register as Republican during Idaho's new March 8 presidential primary election and then switch to another party to vote under different affiliation in the May 17 primary for state and local offices.
"We are moving it up quickly, because the election is coming up pretty quick," Hurst said. "It just means people need to make a choice and they need to make the choice earlier."
Roughly half of all Idaho voters are unaffiliated and rarely change party registration, Hurst said.
The bill would also prohibit write-in candidates from participating in the March 8 presidential primary, but not the November general election.
"We've already got 13 people on there. I don't think we need any more," Hurst said, referring to the number of Republican presidential candidates currently on the ballot. "We talked to the Republican Party about this, they're in favor."
Six other states, including Nevada and Hawaii, also forbid write-in candidates from entering presidential primary elections.
Idaho's GOP primary elections are closed to voters who aren't registered as a Republican. Lawmakers approved moving up the presidential primary last year with the intent of improving Idaho's profile in the 2016 primary. According to the law, candidates who wish to be on the primary ballot must pay a $1,000 filing fee. At the time, Idaho's minority Democratic lawmakers opposed the estimated $2 million change in the election schedule because they said Idaho taxpayers were being asked to fund a closed election.
"I understand that it's a primary election and we're dealing with candidates from participating parties," said Senate Majority Caucus Chair Todd Lakey, of Nampa. "But I still have a concern in my mind about limiting somebody if they choose to affiliate with the Republican Party, limiting them in their ability to say, 'I want to vote for a particular candidate.'"
Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, of Ketchum, also voiced hesitation over limiting voter options. However, Hurst added that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of states limiting write-in candidates and said that his office did not see any risk that the bill would cause a constitutional violation lawsuit.
The bill must now go before the committee for a full hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.
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