September 1, 2023
Republicans from across the state converged on the Melaleuca Event Center in Idaho Falls on Saturday evening, August 19, to learn about the threat posed to Idaho by Ranked Choice Voting.
The evening began with a 5:30 p.m. VIP reception for event sponsors and their guests. (Pocatello businessman Craig Yadon, owner of the award-winning Purpose Building in Pocatello’s historic downtown, was a Platinum Sponsor.) Attendees enjoyed the opportunity to chat and take pictures with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, as well as network with fellow conservatives over savory treats from the charcuterie board. They were also able to admire the display of items to be auctioned off later in the evening.
Local radio personalities Neal Larson and Julie Mason opened the public program with a few well-chosen jokes before yielding the stage to Doyle Beck, who invoked God’s blessing on the assembly. Bannock County Commissioner John Crowder then led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
After a moving rendition of the National Anthem that inspired attendees to join the singing, Bonneville County Republican Women chairwoman Emily Robinson presented their annual Freedom Warrior of the Year award to Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon, citing her “unwavering strength, courage, and integrity.”
After receiving her award, Moon shared a brief introduction to the concept of Ranked Choice Voting, a system in which voters rank all candidates (regardless of party affiliation) in order of preference rather than simply choosing one candidate. A computer then assigns the votes through a complicated process that involves eliminating the lowest-scoring candidate and reassigning the votes they received to other candidates. The inevitable result is the election of the candidate who was most successful in positioning himself as the best “Plan B” for the largest group of people.
Moon next introduced Melaleuca founder Frank VanderSloot, who welcomed guests to the venue and spoke briefly of his struggle to make sense of Ranked Choice Voting. He pointed out that the two states which already use RCV—Maine and Alaska—both ended up with legislators who call themselves Republicans, but consistently vote with the Democrats in Washington. This, he explained, is the intended result of the new voting method: only those who successfully portray themselves as non-controversial are able to garner enough votes to avoid elimination, which paves the way for leftists to move a state’s delegation away from conservative principles.
Moon then returned to the stage to introduce and welcome Idaho native and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, whose recent legislative bid against Lisa Murkowski ended in defeat due to the algorithms of vote-ranking.
Though Palin is perhaps best known as governor of Alaska and 2008 vice-presidential candidate, she was born in Sandpoint and graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism and political science. She was drawn to politics because of the corruption that was endemic to Alaskan politics, where oil companies routinely bought legislators. She has stayed involved at the national level because, as she explained, “When you have nothing to lose, you have everything to gain by fighting for what is right.”
Palin joined Moon at a small table in the center of the stage, and discussed how Ranked Choice Voting actually works. Palin explained it as a process of “voting by elimination, not one man-one vote,” in which multiple rounds of voting are necessary to narrow a crowded field. Final election results may not be known for several days. In her view, one major problem with the system is that it discourages candidates from competing, since they must gain a huge number of 2nd- or 3rd-choice votes in order to survive the elimination rounds. She quoted President Trump’s succinct explanation of the problem: “The 4th most popular candidate can actually win this thing!”
Another problem Palin described is that Ranked-Choice Voting requires the use of a computer algorithm to count the vote, eliminate losing candidates, and reassign the votes they received. There is no way to audit the vote as Idaho law requires, since only a computer is able to perform the “unnecessarily complicated” task of determining who actually gets the votes.
Further, because people’s votes are assigned to other candidates when their preferred candidate is eliminated, there is no way to do a hand-recount in order to verify that the computer is performing accurately. There is also no way to check whether all ballots are being counted. Of particular concern is the fate of ballots that are used to choose only the primary candidate, leaving the other choices unranked. Are those ballots counted or thrown out? No one seems to know.
“The one man-one vote system isn’t broken. Why would it have to be changed?” asked Palin, answering her own question by stating, “It is the fundamental transformation of America.”
Dorothy Moon expressed her faith in Idaho’s ability to lead the charge on stopping the spread of Ranked Choice Voting. “I think Idaho is ready to take on this challenge,” she said, encouraging her listeners to contact their legislators.
Palin pointed out that the Republican National Committee unanimously opposes the new system. She encouraged attendees to “keep talking about the big picture. [Explain] how the changes will impact every single one of us.” She believes Idaho is uniquely qualified to lead the fight on this issue. “Idaho is a very, very special state, that stands out from the rest because of [the people’s] independence,” she said in closing. “America needs you to not go the way of some of these other states…we need Idaho to be the strongest.”
To close out the evening, Boise radio host Nate Shelman took the stage to auction off an assortment of silver rounds and a silver bullet, an American flag-imprinted AR signed by Sarah Palin, and wooden art piece depicting the state of Idaho and signed by Palin.
The Idaho Republican Party has posted a video of the full event on their YouTube channel, here:
