Measures in Malheur, Baker and Lake counties designed to eliminate or alter required Greater Idaho meetings by commissioners all went down to defeat last week.  In Malheur county, a citizen-led petition to eliminate the meetings altogether failed, with nearly 56% of voters saying no.  Lake and Baker county measures only sought to give commissioners more flexibility over the time and dates of the meetings.  Those measures also went down to defeat with similar percentages of no voters.

"The results from these 3 county votes show that voters want more advocacy ouf of their elected leaders, not less," said Matt McCaw, Executive Director of the Greater Idaho Movement.  "When people originally voted for these meeting requirements, what they were saying is that they wanted their elected leaders to earnestly pursue making their counties part of Idaho.  That hasn't yet happened, and the people are saying they want elected leaders to continue working."

Thirteen eastern Oregon counties have voted for pro-Greater Idaho measures since 2020.  While many of the votes require county-level meetings, it is the Oregon Legislature who has final say over any border change.  In 2023, the Idaho House approved a memorial inviting Oregon to begin border talks.   More recently, Idaho Governor Brad Little stated that he supported having border talks.

To learn more about the process for moving a border, visit https://greateridaho.org/view/34.