Third lawsuit filed against Idaho's redistricting commission

KEITH RIDLER

Associated Press

BOISE — A third lawsuit has been filed with the Idaho Supreme Court against Idaho’s redistricting commission over a new map redrawing the state’s 35 legislative districts.

Spencer Stucki of Chubbuck in southeastern Idaho filed the lawsuit Wednesday against the Idaho Commission for Reapportionment and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney.

Stucki identifies himself as a co-chair for a group called the Committee for Fair Elections. Stucki in the lawsuit challenges the redrawing of districts in southeastern Idaho.

“The districts in southeast Idaho look as though they could have been drawn to protect current senators,” the lawsuit states. “I contend that district No. 28 is an odd-shaped district.”

The redistricting commission redrew Idaho’s 35 legislative districts based on the 2020 census, aiming to get about 52,000 residents in each district. It approved the map last month that splits eight of Idaho's 44 counties.

Stucki requests the court declare the map approved by the commission inadequate and instead consider maps that split nine counties, which the lawsuit contends received overwhelming favorable public testimony.

The two other lawsuits each argue that the map chosen by the commission, which splits eight counties, is unconstitutional because it splits up more counties than necessary. The Idaho Supreme Court has consolidated those two lawsuits.