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BOISE — Idahoans may see a change in their elected officials as redistricting for congressional and legislative districts began on Wednesday to bring voting districts at both levels of government up to constitutional standards.

After the release of 2020 census information on Aug. 16, changes in population revealed that all congressional districts need to reflect a 7,758-person increase — or at least as close to that figure as possible, in order to be considered constitutional.

Put simply, if an elected official answers to more voters than another elected official, then the voters in the more populated area don’t have as much voting power, which is something that the state wants to avoid.

Redistricting is a process that takes place every ten years after the release of the most recent census data. Redistricting used to be done by state legislators, but after fights broke out between some in the same party over redistricting, an independent commission was established to redraw district lines. This will be the third such commission overseeing the process. The commission contains three Democrats, and three Republicans selected by their respective parties.

Voting districts break up land into bite-sized chunks, called districts. When people run for office at any level, they have to run in a specific district. Congressmen who represent Idaho in Washington, D.C., run in congressional districts. Idaho has two congressional districts, sometimes referred to as the Eastern and Western districts. Regional legislators who represent Idahoans in Boise run in one of 35 legislative districts.

Sometimes, but not always, legislative and congressional districts run along the same lines. District lines can be drawn along almost any conceivable boundary. County lines, school districts, voting precincts, neighborhoods, geographical features (rivers or lakes), or man-made structures (bridges or buildings) can be used to distinguish district lines.

But there are some requirements that must be met in order for a district line to be acceptable in the new plan.

Whenever possible, districts are to stay in one county. If they have to go over county lines, they need to be in neighboring counties with a connecting road that doesn’t leave the district.

Districts cannot be odd-shaped. Whenever possible, traditional neighborhoods and communities of interest need to keep their voting precinct lines. And districts cannot be drawn to protect political party interests or incumbents.

There are two levels of government that are having lines redrawn, congressional districts at the federal level, and legislative districts at the state level.

In addition to the guidelines above, the redistricting commission also has to follow a hierarchy of guidelines. In order, they are the United States Constitution, the Idaho Constitution, and requirements in Idaho Code 721506, listed above.

The main concern with upholding the U.S. and Idaho constitutions is the number of people in each district. The U.S. Constitution requires that “one person equals one vote.” Meaning that both congressional districts need to contain 919,553 people, and each of the 35 legislative districts should contain 52,546 people. Those two population targets will take priority over the other guidelines commissioners are asked to follow in the redistricting process.

Even though commissioners have definite targets they aim to achieve, it’s not a straightforward process. The prevailing guideline commissioners will achieve is the 919,553 people per congressional district. After that, it’s the regional 52,546 people per legislative district.

When it comes to legislative districts, commissioners are allowed to have a 10% buffer around the 52,546-person target. Meaning that if already established district lines can’t be adjusted, then a district is allowed to have no more or less than a 5,254-person deviation from the original target.

Bonner County is located in the Western congressional district, and is split between two legislative districts. Beginning at the U.S. 95 Long Bridge and going north until the U.S.-Canada border is the 1st Legislative district, represented by Heather Scott, R-Blanchard; and Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, in the Idaho House of Representatives;, and state Sen. Paul Woodward, R-Sagle. The 7th legislative district goes south from Long Bridge along U.S. 95 until reaching the southern border of Bonner County and includes all of Shoshone, Clearwater, and Idaho counties. The 7th district is represented by Carl Crabtree, R-Grangeville; Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird;, and Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins.

Bonner is one of seven counties split from the 2011 redistricting, but that might not be the case for much longer.

“Bonner County is way to the north. And we hear from folks in the Clark Fork area, how disenfranchised they actually have felt. And we’ve seen that testimony by 10 or 15 separate people” said past commissioner Randy Hansen.

Hansen, who served as a commissioner during the 2011 redistricting, addressed the new panel of commissioners on Wednesday via Zoom.

“These folks are really interested in getting a district that helps them feel more enfranchised in who they’re selecting as a legislator, so there’s some work to do,” Hansen said. “And you need population from somewhere to fill that up. You are landlocked up north. And there’s really only one way to split those counties”

Wednesday’s meeting marks the beginning of the 90-day deadline that commissioners have to come up with a redistricting map they feel will be approved by the Idaho Supreme Court. Meetings beginning the redistricting process will continue until Friday in Boise. After that, commissioners will travel throughout Idaho collecting public input and surveying areas they are considering for new district lines. The court will then review the plan before voting on it. If the court doesn’t like the plan, they can draw up a plan of their own, reconvene the commission to create a new plan, or assemble a new commission and have them create a new plan.

Citizens can participate in this process by attending commission meetings, dates and times of which are still to be determined. They can also submit their own redistricting map to commissioners for consideration. Maps can be created using the same software that commissioners use. It can be found at legislature.idaho.gov/redistricting/2021/.

Commissioner meetings begin at 8:30 a.m. PT online at idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/.