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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

GOP wants Supreme Court to order Ysursa to declare redistricting vacancies

About half an hour ago, House Speaker Lawerence Denney and Idaho GOP Chairman Norm Semanko filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus in the Idaho Supreme Court, calling on the court to “immediately” order Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa to declare two vacancies on the Idaho citizens redistricting commission, and then recognize their new appointees for those spots; the two said they'd asked Ysursa to declare such vacancies but he'd refused, citing the legal advice of the Idaho Attorney General, who provided him with a legal opinion saying commissioners can't be removed. You can read the GOP court filing here. It's not clear yet how the high court will react; it could request a response from Ysursa, the respondent to the complaint, or it could just issue a ruling.



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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