Early voting runs October 13-30 at the Blaine County Courthouse in Hailey, first floor, Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. We strongly encourage you to vote early!
Along with candidate races, your ballot includes several statewide measures and an advisory question. Many of you have asked about them. Here are my personal recommendations and the reasons behind them.
Summary of Recommendations
* YES on Proposition 1: Protect timely medical care, reproductive freedom, and the right to make private health decisions with your doctor.
* NO on HJR 4: Preserve citizen’s authority to bring drug-policy proposals to the ballot. Keep that power in voter’s hands.
* NO on HJR 6: English is already Idaho’s official language. Keep the existing, more detailed statute, which accommodates foreign-language instruction, rather than adding an unnecessary constitutional restriction that could create confusion and division.
* State-firearm question - leave blank: Supporting the Second Amendment does not require choosing a symbolic state gun. Voters deserve an option to reject the designation; this question offers none.
Proposition 1: Vote YES to protect health, privacy, and medical judgment
There are concrete reasons to support the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act. It would:
* Establish a right to abortion before fetal viability, with a medical-emergency exception afterward.
* Expand the medical-emergency exception to protect physical health as well as life, including cases involving serious impairment of bodily functions or organs.
* Protect private decisions about contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and prenatal and postpartum care.
* Protect patients and providers from penalties for exercising rights established by the act.
A woman should receive medically necessary care before her condition becomes catastrophic. Her physician should be able to act on sound medical judgment.
Every woman should have a voice in decisions affecting her health, family, and future.
HJR 4: Vote NO to preserve citizen power
A NO vote preserves voter’s existing authority without legalizing any substance.
HJR 4 would give the State Legislature exclusive authority to legalize marijuana, narcotics, and other psychoactive substances, taking that authority away from voters using the initiative process. Whatever our views on drug policy, we should think carefully before placing a constitutional restriction on a portion of our lawmaking power, including our ability to consider proposals involving potential medical treatments.
Please attend: “Who Gets to Decide? Understanding HJR 4,” a community conversation hosted by the Blaine County Democrats with Luke Mayville, co-founder and executive director of Reclaim Idaho:
Monday, October 12, 6:30–7:30 PM | Town Center West, 116 River Street, Hailey
Come learn, ask questions, and understand the consequences before voting.
HJR 6: Vote NO - English is already Idaho’s official language
This amendment is unnecessary because state law already makes English Idaho’s official language. The existing statute is more detailed and expressly accommodates foreign-language instruction in public schools.
HJR 6’s broad proposed requirement that public instruction be conducted in English could create uncertainty about whether those classes remain permissible.
The amendment could also deepen social division by signaling to non-English-speaking neighbors that they are unwelcome in Idaho and their communities.
I support helping people learn English and participate fully in public life. We can accomplish that while respecting the languages and backgrounds they bring to our state.
State-firearm advisory question: A question of priorities
Voters are being asked which firearm they prefer without being asked whether Idaho should have an official state gun at all. That omission is disappointing.
If a write-in response would be available, my suggestion would be a recreational squirt gun!
The official question instructs voters to “choose only one answer.” It provides no write-in choice, no “NO” choice, and no “none of the above” option. You can leave this question unanswered and vote on the rest of your ballot.
A blank answer does not register opposition; it simply records no preference among the six firearms listed:
1. Winchester Model 1894 — .30-30
2. Winchester Model 1873, “Gun that Won the West” — .44-40
3. 1873 Colt Single Action Army Revolver, “Peacemaker” — .45 Colt
4. M1 Garand rifle — .30-06
5. Colt M1911 pistol — .45 ACP
6. Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle — .30-06
To be clear, the question is symbolic and nonbinding, and any official designation would require later action by the State Legislature in a future session.
QUESTIONS? Katja Burmester (Phone: 208-954-0937 / E-mail: katja@myburmester.com / @katja.casson)