Bill Description: Senate Bill 1398 would move the Primary Election date earlier in May and require Idaho to hold a presidential primary election.
Rating: -2
NOTE: Senate Bill 1398 is related to Senate Bill 1366 (2026), House Bill 638 (2026), and Senate Bill 1415 (2024).
Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity or otherwise compromise government transparency, accountability, or election integrity? Conversely, does it increase public access to information related to government activity or increase government transparency, accountability, or election integrity?
Senate Bill 1398 would amend Section 34-102, Idaho Code, which defines Idaho’s primary election, to change the date from the third Tuesday in May to the Tuesday following the first Monday in May. This means the primary election would take place two weeks earlier in most years.
Given that the Legislative Session typically lasts until the end of March or even early April, this change would result in meaningfully less time for legislative candidates to campaign and engage with constituents prior to the primary election.
It could also cause issues where the reporting requirements for electioneering communication within 30 days of a primary overlap with the Legislative Session, effectively limiting speech related to sitting legislators who are also candidates.
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Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?
The bill would add a provision stating that the (now earlier) primary election would also be “for the purpose of allowing voters to express their preference of candidate for nomination by a political party for president of the United States.”
The bill would amend Section 34-606, Idaho Code, by adding a subsection saying, “Any candidate for a political party participating in the nomination for president of the United States at the primary election shall file a declaration of candidacy with the secretary of state and pay a filing fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000) within the time period provided in section 34-704, Idaho Code. Such filing fee shall be deposited in the general fund.”
It would also amend Section 34-1214, Idaho Code, by adding a subsection saying, “Immediately after the primary election canvass in a presidential election year, the secretary of state shall certify to the state chair of each political party the number of votes received by that party's candidates for president of the United States. A winner shall be declared as prescribed by rule of the state and national party.”
Unlike Senate Bill 1366, this bill would add Section 34-718, Idaho Code, to clarify that “participation in a presidential primary by a political party shall be optional, and nothing in this chapter shall be construed as mandating a party's participation in a presidential primary.”
While this addition provides some meaningful clarification, it creates a paradigm where some political parties may choose to operate privately — holding their caucuses at their own expense – and others may choose to impose those costs on the public through choosing their presidential nominees through a state primary.
While holding a presidential primary in conjunction with an existing primary election does not carry the same cost as a separate presidential primary (estimated at $2.5 million), it would still require additional time and increased printing costs.
It would be more consistent (and less redistributive) to leave the selection of party nominees to the parties themselves instead of requiring taxpayers to subsidize the selection process.
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