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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Redistricters all agree on one point: Stick with 35 legislative districts

Idaho's bipartisan citizen redistricting commission is now reviewing all of the citizen-initiated redistricting plans submitted to the commission through the online "Maptitude" program; there are 29 of them. The first one, L-1, drew up a plan for just 30, rather than the current 35, legislative districts; that's allowed, but it prompted a rare moment of unanimous agreement among the six commisioners. "I would suggest that given that we've committed to a 35-district plan, that we skip over any full plan that isn't about 35 districts," said Democratic Commissioner George Moses. GOP Co-Chairman Evan Frasure said, "I appreciate that, it'll probably cut down this process, but it is duly noted that we appreciate those inputs. ... As we held statewide hearings, it is pretty obvious that the commission agrees to go for a 35-district plan."

At the commission's public hearings across the state, people in all areas urged keeping 35 districts to avoid reducing representation by dropping the number.
 



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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