Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa has issued his order asking the party leaders in the Idaho Legislature, and the state Republican and Democratic chairs, to name new members to the Idaho Redistricting Commission, the six previous members being ineligible for a rerun.
A new meeting might occur, and the process resume, late in the month.
It might be a creative interpretation of the law (snd probably impermissible, in truth, since he's an elective officeholder), but consider this - suppose all six appointers name the same person to the commission: Ben Ysursa. Or all six new members simply agreed, sight unseen, to pass whatever Ysursa came up with.
The idea of Ysursa drawing the map has been circulating around. Boise consultant Marc Johnson blogged on it a few days ago. I've spoken with some Republicans and some Democrats about it, and all gave the idea a thumbs up. Ysursa is a nearly unique quality: He's a Republican, but people in both parties, broadly, say they would trust him to do an honest job fair to both sides. After decades of much praise and remarkably scant criticism (from either party) in overseeing Idaho elections, that comes as no surprise.
It goes with the type of person Ysursa is, however, that he almost certainly will want nothing to do with the idea ...