The Idaho Supreme Court heard arguments Friday to determine if newly drawn legislative districts are constitutional.
Every 10 years, a bi-partisan commission uses census data to redraw the voting lines in Idaho. And every 10 years, those maps are challenged in court.
Several challenges were raised against the legislative map and the Idaho Supreme Court merged those cases into Friday’s hearing. One of the biggest arguments was the commission split up counties into different districts.
Alexis Klempel is the Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Canyon County. She said the Idaho Constitution dictates the legislative map should keep voters together with others from their county.
“There are several characteristics of county life that bind county residents together. They elect county officials together, they have county fairs together, and county infrastructure and tax considerations affect these residents together,” she said.
Deputy Attorney General Megan Larrondo said the commission split up just eight counties while trying to meet all the redistricting requirements.
“It’s just given the distribution of population and county layout in Idaho that mandated the commission have more external splits in Ada and Canyon County in order to combine that excess population with the surrounding under population,” Larrondo said.
If the justices say the map needs to be changed, a new map would need to be in place by Feb. 28 for the May primary. There is no word on when the court will announce its decision.
