By Toni McNeill, MVLA, July 18, 2024
The July meeting was at El Sombrero restaurant in Jerome at 7 pm.
There were 7 Precinct Committeemen (PCs) in attendance, so a quorum was established. By memory, I accounted for 11 citizens in attendance at the meeting. Cy Lootens, Jerome County clerk, was also in attendance.
Lyle Johnstone (MVLA Board Chairman), and Chair of LD 26, presented information about Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).
Lyle went through the stance of the Republican Party platform against RCV and the dangers of RCV. He addressed the Board and PCs on if the Jerome Central Committee would be aligning with the Party against RCV.
Chairman Rob Williams immediately and effectively indicated there would be no vote on this subject, that RCV may or may not come up again for a vote, and that they needed to bring in a pro on RCV to address the Committee. He did have a statement that he was for RCV because he did not believe voters should be left out of the closed primary. Others at the meeting can address this better than me.
Rob Williams and Maxine Bell left the meeting immediately following.
Mike Pohanka, Liz Schroeder, Laura (don’t know her last name) Laurie Lickley stayed and spoke to the citizens about RCV. They indicated they did not know anything about it. This is concerning considering they are our elected representatives.
The estimated $40 million price tag of implementing RCV in Idaho was discussed. That other states that have implemented RCV saw their costs far exceed their estimates. Also mentioned, Alaska voters, which adopted RCV in 2020, is now trying to repeal RCV from their state in their November election.
With the Jerome Fair August Monday 5 – Saturday 10, this is a good opportunity to educate the public on candidates and proposals on the ballot in November. The JRCC will only have the candidates represented in their booth.
Be sure to stop by the MVLA booth to show yoour support. We will have information on RCV.
