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S1445......................................by LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION
LEGISLATIVE VACANCIES - Amends existing law to provide the method of
calculating proportional representation of the legislative district
committee to make nominations to fill a vacancy in the Legislature.
02/11 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/12 Rpt prt - to St Aff
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1445
BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO VACANCIES IN THE LEGISLATURE; AMENDING SECTION 59-904A, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO PROVIDE THE METHOD OF CALCULATING PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION OF
4 THE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT COMMITTEE TO MAKE NOMINATIONS.
5 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
6 SECTION 1. That Section 59-904A, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
7 amended to read as follows:
8 59-904A. LEGISLATURE -- VACANCIES, HOW FILLED. In the event of a vacancy
9 in the house of representatives or senate of the state of Idaho, such vacancy
10 shall be filled as herein provided. The legislative district committee of the
11 same political party, if any, of the former member whose seat is vacant shall
12 submit, meet within fifteen (15) days., Prior to the meeting, the county clerk
13 of the county in which any part of the legislative district is located shall
14 prepare a roster of the precincts within the legislative district within that
15 county which shows the proportion of the population of the precinct to the
16 population of the whole district, based upon the number of registered voters
17 at the time of the most recent general election. At the meeting, each precinct
18 committeeman shall be entitled to that proportion of a vote as is represented
19 by the proportion of the population within the precinct he represents. The
20 committee shall submit a list of three (3) nominations to the governor. The
21 governor shall fill the vacancy by appointment from the list of three (3) nom-
22 inations within fifteen (15) days. If no appointment has been made within fif-
23 teen (15) days, the legislative district committee shall designate one (1) of
24 the three (3) nominees to fill the vacancy. The vacancy shall be so filled
25 until the next general election after such vacancy occurs, when such vacancy
26 shall be filled by election.
27 The legislative district committee of the same political party, if any, of
28 the former member, shall select a person who possesses the constitutional
29 qualifications to fill the vacant office to which he is nominated, and who is
30 affiliated with the same political party, if any, as the former member whose
31 seat is vacant. Upon the failure of the committee to make such selection
32 before the expiration of the fifteen (15) day period the governor shall within
33 five (5) days, fill said vacancy by appointing a person having the qualifica-
34 tions above set forth.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 12051C1
This legislation corrects a defect in the law that allows
inequity in voter representation when filling a vacancy in a
Senate or House of Representatives legislative district. When
a vacancy occurs in a legislative district, law provides that
the members of the legislative district committee, which generally
consists of the district’s precinct committee chairman, vote to
determine three (3) nominees to present to the Governor ranked by
the nominee receiving the most precinct chairmen votes. The
Governor chooses one of these nominees to fill the vacancy.
However, the number of registered voters in each district’s
precincts may vary dramatically For example statewide, as of the
2000 General election, the number of registered voters living in
Idaho precincts varied from 13 in precinct 9, Blaine County to
3,572 in precinct 91, Ada County.
The current law allowing each precinct committee chairman an equal
vote, regardless of the population of their precinct is
inconsistent with the principle of equal representation.
This legislation provides a workable solution to the problem.
FISCAL IMPACT
No significant fiscal impact to either county or state
governments.
Contact
Name: Senator Hal Eunderson
Senator Evan Frasure
Representative Mike Moyle
Phone: 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1445