BOISE, Idaho — The Presidential Primary, usually held in March, will not happen in Idaho in 2024 due to an omission stemming from the 2023 legislative session.
In House Bill 138, legislators voted to eliminate Idaho's March elections and only have them in May, highlighting a savings of just under $3 million every four years in relation to expenses in election-related supplies and auditing.
The legislation also errantly eliminated the Idaho Presidential Primary.
To reverse the omission, the Senate drafted SB 1186, but it was not addressed in the 2023 session.
Over the past few weeks, Idaho legislators were not able to agree on proposals that would have enacted a special session and reinstated the primaries, and now both Republicans and Democrats will hold caucuses to determine delegates' votes for nominees in the 2024 Presidential Election.
A presidential caucus, unlike a primary, consists of a single gathering (usually per county) where voters must attend in person at a predetermined location at a predetermined time to cast their vote.
The last time the GOP had a caucus was in the 2012 election, while the Democrats held a caucus in 2016.
Both of these caucus resulted in the attendance of less than 45,000 voters. Opting for primaries, by comparison, has brought out over 220,000 Republicans and over 100,000 Democrats, respectively, as people have multiple select polling places that they can visit at any time during election day to cast their vote, as well as the acceptance of absentee ballots.
Venues for the 2024 caucuses have yet to be secured and announced, and some counties may only use one venue.
