A resolution on the Nov. 3 ballot aims to prevent 2021 redistricting efforts from creating less than 35 legislative districts in Idaho. The resolution, created by the Idaho State Legislature, is Constitutional Amendment HJR4.
The resolution passed Idaho’s House of Representatives 65-3 this February and passed Idaho’s Senate 31-4 this March. To be formally adopted, the amendment only needs a simple majority vote from the ballot.
HJR4 would assure equal and well-distributed representation across Idaho. Redistricting, or “reapportioning,” is done every 10 years based on Idaho Census numbers. A group of six Idaho citizens, officially known as the Citizens’ Commission on Reapportionment, are tasked with taking the Census number and dividing Idaho into legislative districts roughly equal in population.
When this group redistricts Idaho, the redistricting decisions are taken to the Supreme Court for revisions, Scott Bedke, the Speaker of the House of Idaho’s legislature, said. This gives the commission further direction.
“As they do that, they don’t tell them how to draw the lines, but they say ‘when you draw the lines, you can’t fit counties in any more than is absolutely necessary, you have to be able to get them on a state road, etc.,’” Bedke said. “Of course, you can touch all of the bases that the court has put out…. the bigger the legislative district, the easier it is to comply with the court.”
Article III, Section 4 of Idaho’s Constitution states Idaho should be allocated into “not less than 30 nor more than 35 legislative districts.” Idaho hasn’t had less than 35 legislative districts in quite some time, but the possibility persists. While 30 districts “may touch the court’s bases better” than 35, using 30 districts would minimize representation in Idaho, Bedke said.
“That’s why we did it,” Bedke said. “We pegged it at 35, because we think that the citizens of the state of Idaho are better served by having more, smaller districts than fewer larger districts.”
HJR4 will be phrased on the ballot in “yes or no” format. A yes vote will support requiring Idaho to have 35 legislative districts, while a no vote will keep the current Constitutional language.
Herman Roberts, a Latah County voter and University of Idaho student, has already voted on the issue. He said the measure is a good idea.
“I think that it is a smart idea to keep consistency within the state legislature and to keep more representatives within our state government,” Roberts said.
He has no major concern either way, because the result of the vote will not directly change any current procedural politics. However, he and Bedke think citizens should vote yes.
“Vote yes,” Bedke said. “This is a situation that you are already used to. It’s been this way for 30 plus years. In the fastest growing state in the union, there is absolutely no reason to have less representation when you can have the choice of having more representation.”
Carter Kolpitcke can be reached at [email protected].