BOISE - After the infighting within the Republican Party was aired publicly, the Senate State Affairs Committee on Tuesday approved 6-2 a bill that would create a modified open primary election, but still allow parties to hold closed contests if desired.

The bill would create a modified open primary election whereby voters at polls mark a box listing their party choice or "unaffiliated." Those who declare a party are required to vote in that party's primary. Registration would be public record, but voters selecting "unaffiliated" would not list which primary they participated in.

For more than 30 years, Idaho has held open primaries, meaning anyone can vote in any primary without registering. About one third of voters call themselves independent. The first elections affected would be 2010.

Keith Allred of the non-partisan citizen's group The Common Interest, which sponsored the bill, said the modified system strikes a balance among fighting political entities in Idaho, promises results reflective of the electorate and would survive a legal challenge.

"It resolves the current vulnerability to litigation that our current statute has," said Allred, a Twin Falls native and professor at Harvard.

In November, a judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Republicans who sued the secretary of state, ruling they lacked grounds since it wasn't brought by the party itself. The state central committee then passed a resolution that says only Republicans can vote in primary selections - and the plaintiffs in the original suit can sue on behalf of the party. If lawmakers don't close the primaries, the plaintiffs can sue within 10 days after the session ends.

The second part of the bill allows for a party to conduct and pay for its own private election, including a closed caucus.

"This bill wins in court," said former Idaho Attorney General David Leroy, who warned the Legislature would need a special session if it doesn't act.

Democrats opposed the bill. But the bill provoked debate between the committee - which includes the four-member leadership team - and Rod Beck, the former Boise state senator leading the charge to close the contests who said his goal is to strengthen the Republican Party.

"Republicans have been disenfranchised for years," said Beck. "The voting public is expecting some nexus between the platform and the candidates."

Discussion with Beck turned testy. One senator asked Beck, who served six years, if he was pursuing the matter after having lost an election. Another wondered if he was promising additional litigation. And one was concerned with Beck's analogy to international election customs.

"Are you advocating the United Nations set our election process here in Idaho?" asked Senate Majority Caucus Chair Brad Little, R-Emmett.

But many - including some committee members - wonder why the party wants to alter a system that helped Republicans hold 79 of 105 positions in the state Legislature, all statewide positions and the four-member congressional delegation.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled states can't force political parties to associate with those who don't share their political beliefs. Three separate proposals to close primaries failed to clear the 2007 Legislature.

"There aren't any Republican senators who are dissatisfied with the current system," Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, said after the vote, noting a lack of enthusiasm during the meeting. "But everybody knows you've got to do something and that seems an acceptable agreement."

Jared S. Hopkins may be reached at 420-8371 or jhopkins@magicvalley.com