Secretary of State Issues Order Creating Commission for Reapportionment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Download the Press Release PDF

Date: August 12, 2021
Contact: Chad Houck, Chief Deputy Secretary of State
Phone: (208) 334-2852

Boise, Idaho — With today’s release of the 2020 U.S. Census data down to the census block level, Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney has issued the order creating the Commission for Reapportionment. The commissioners appointed by the six appointing authorities are:

  • Bart Davis of Garden City, Idaho
  • Tom Dayley of Boise, Idaho
  • Nels Mitchell of Boise, Idaho
  • Amber Pence of Tetonia, Idaho
  • Eric Redman of Spirit Lake, Idaho
  • Dan Schmidt of Moscow, Idaho

The Commission is responsible for redrawing the boundaries of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts and two congressional districts.

The U.S. Census Bureau failed to deliver this data nationwide by April 1 as is typically done under federal law, but Secretary Denney is confident that the commission is eager to begin. “While the delay will make the timelines of redistricting challenging, I have confidence that this Commission will be both thorough and expeditious in developing a fair and intelligent plan that adheres to constitutional and statutory requirements,” said Secretary Denney.

The Commission will begin meeting within the next few weeks, and once it convenes its first meeting, will have 90 days to complete its work

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ABOUT LAWERENCE DENNEY

Lawerence Denney has served the people of Idaho since 1990. His public service began as a representative in District 13 and, following redistricting, then became a representative in District 9 until 2014. During this time, Denney served two terms as Majority Leader and three terms as Speaker of the House before successfully running for state office as Idaho’s Secretary of State. He is currently in his second term as Secretary of State.

System Upgrade In Progress

Campaign Finance, Lobbyist Reporting, and Online Voter Tools are expected to be offline from April 9th at 5:00 p.m. MDT, through April 12th at 8:00 a.m. MDT to complete a system upgrade.

Per Idaho Code 67-6607, campaign finance is reported monthly during a campaign’s election year. The deadline for the March report falls on Saturday, April 10th. Due to the interruption caused by this upgrade, political treasurers will be allowed to file the March report until 11:59 p.m. MDT on Monday, April 12th.

While we do our best to ensure compliance with all deadlines in statute, the timing of this release is critical to ensure minimal (or no) impact to the May election cycle. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.