BOISE -- Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter expects Republican leaders meeting in June in Twin Falls at the GOP state convention to weigh the merits of the new closed primary election following Tuesday's record-low turnout.
On Wednesday, Otter told The Associated Press that debate will likely center on whether voters who were leery of making their choice of ballot a public record discouraged them from going to the polls.
Turnout isn't official, but will likely hover around 23 percent.
GOP convention delegates could recommend reopening the party's primary.
Otter opposed the closed primary, but party leaders won a federal lawsuit in 2011 forcing Idaho to adopt the restrictions.
Otter says the biggest complaint his office received in the election run-up came from people angry about the loss of privacy in the polling booth.
