COEUR d'ALENE - State Republican leadership will meet in McCall on Friday and Saturday to discuss new rules to decide on which candidates will qualify to be on the primary ballots in partisan elections.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that the proposed rule change would limit Idaho's Secretary of State to printing only party approved candidates on the Republican primary ballots.

In 2011, Idaho's Legislature voted to close the state's primary elections, allowing only declared Republicans to vote in the primaries.

Now, some GOP leaders feel that the party should have more say in who can actually run on the primary ballot.

Neil Oliver, chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, said he will be attending the state meeting in McCall. He said he plans to listen to the debate before forming a final opinion on the matter, but for now he doesn't think it is a good idea.

While Oliver approved of the state's decision to close the primaries, allowing only declared Republicans to vote, he doesn't feel the party should be deciding who is put on the ballots.

"As the central committee chair, I am not in favor of selecting the candidates," he said. "But I would like to hear the intent of it. I want to hear the debate."

According to the Associated Press the push to require candidates to be vetted by Republican leaders before they're allowed on the ballot comes from Region 4 Republican Chairman Rod Beck. He's among those who believe elected GOP officials often ignore their party leaders, such as when many Republican lawmakers and Gov. Butch Otter backed a state-based insurance exchange in March. It passed after more than 15 hours of combined debate.

The Idaho Republican Central Committee opposed the exchange, a battle front that saw intense efforts by Idaho insurers, including Blue Cross of Idaho and Regence Blue Shield, to have it passed over objections from foes who contended, among other things, that it sacrificed Idaho's sovereignty to the federal government and President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul.

"What I envision is, our local precinct committee people will become more important to legislators than the lobbyists at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, or other Boise-based lobbyists," Beck said.

Beck, a former Idaho Senate majority leader, was previously among the major proponents of Idaho's closed GOP primary election, which took effect in 2012.

With this plan, the state Central Committee would vet state and federal candidates; legislative district committees would review legislative candidates; and county GOP committees would approve local candidates.

Jeff Ward, spokesman for the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans, said he understands that a majority of Republicans in the state are upset about the health-care exchange, but the proper way to deal with that is to work hard to get them voted out of office.

"I guess they could do what Utah does and decide on their candidates by using a caucus system instead of the primary," Ward said, adding he doesn't support that either. "But they should not be taking short cuts by taking away someone's right to run for office."

Even if the state party votes to approve that approach, Ward said state laws are pretty specific on what can and cannot be done in the primaries, so he doubts the courts would uphold it.

"They were kind of pushing the limits when they decided to close the primaries," he said. "I think if the party is going to do it, then the party should have to start paying for its own primaries."

Some lawmakers are already lining up to try and influence the decision, the Associated Press learned after obtaining a draft letter opposing the proposal. That letter is expected to be sent to GOP officials statewide before the meeting on Friday.

In the letter, lawmakers, including House Speaker Scott Bedke, said it would put candidate selections in the hands of people inside "the smoke filled room."

"Please join us at the upcoming Central Committee Meeting in McCall in defeating this elitist proposal," they wrote.

Bedke, who sided with Otter on the insurance exchange on the grounds that it gives Idaho more power than would a federally-run online insurance marketplace for individuals and small businesses, worries such a rule would put GOP candidate selection in the hands of a few ideologically-motivated, activist GOP leaders motivated by narrow issues.

"It's the insurance exchange this year, it'll be something else next year," Bedke said. "It's unhealthy for the party. It disenfranchises Republican voters. Your choice of who is on the ballot will be made by a very limited number of Republicans, not Republicans at large."

Oliver said it is good to see that the legislators are getting involved, but in the end it will be elected central committee members who make the final decision on the proposal.

"It will be interesting to see how they influence this," he said. "I'm sure there will be some good old fashioned politicking going on."