It’s a little unfortunate that election schedules have to be uprooted because of legal battles over things like redistricting. But that’s what seems to be happening in Idaho.

House Bill 302 (introduced by Representative Tom Loertscher, R-Iona) may be an inevitability, and is certainly something legislators were wise to get into the pipeline sooner rather than later. Probably wouldn’t be necessary or wise to pass it through in the next three to four weeks. But if the Idaho Supreme Court hasn’t signed off on a new redistricting plan by the end of February, it should be ready and positioned for quick action, since the candidate filing period will not then be far off.

Maybe 10 years from now, could the redistricting process be altered so that any approved plan is automatically forwarded to the Idaho Supreme Court for final disposition? We know it will be appealed there anyway, and in these cycles (in contrast the usual more extensive period the justices have for review of most cases), a few weeks can make a lot of difference.

In the meantime, an August primary wouldn’t be so bad. Idaho’s had them before. Washington has them still. They do have the virtue of cutting down the campaigning season, and they need not be held before national party conventions for presidential elections any more, since both parties have gone to the caucus system.