The Boise City Council will vote on the creation of geographic districts for the November 2021 City Council elections.

In 2020, Idaho lawmakers passed a bill requiring all cities with a population of more than 100,000 to create legislative districts for council elections.

Boise City Council seats 1, 3, 5 will be up for election, and elected council members will serve two-year terms.

The districts must be approved before the state-mandated deadline of 120 days before council elections.

The Oregon Legislature adjourned sine die June 26 after passing a flurry of bills in the twilight hours of the 2021 legislative session.

The Democratic-led Legislature passed sweeping police reform, a state budget focused on economic recovery, and bills focusing on the housing and homeless crisis occurring within the state.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced that the Cal-Access Replacement System, scheduled to roll out June 30, will be postponed.

The replacement system seeks to update the current paper driven system to an electronic system.

On June 18, the Alaska Legislature adjourned a special session after failing to alter the effective date of the state budget.

Under the Alaska constitution, bills take effect 90 days after enactment unless two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate approve an earlier date.

The House could not meet this threshold.

Gov. Dunleavy issued a proclamation, calling lawmakers into another special session starting June 23 with the goal of passing a state budget before July 1.

Montana’s Supreme Court has held Senate Bill 140 is constitutional.

SB 140 allows the governor to appoint judges directly, abolishing the judicial nomination commission.

Nevada Gov. Sisolak signed Assembly Bill 126, which changed Nevada’s presidential caucus system to a government-run primary election.

The bill requires to the presidential primary to be held on the first Tuesday in February in a presidential election year.

Members of the Joint Committee on Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions voted to draft bills to create either an open primary or a ranked-choice voting system.

Currently, Wyoming operates under a dual partisan primary system.

Under this system, each party holds an independent primary to select its candidate for the general election.

An open primary system allows for all parties to compete in a single primary election, with the top two votes advancing to the general election.

Rank-choice allows for voters to rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots, with the candidate securing the majority winning the election.

If no candidate wins the majority, the lowest candidate gets eliminated, the votes for that person go to the voters’ second choice, and the votes are retabulated until a majority is reached.

The Oregon House voted to expel Rep. Mike Nearman after he allowed demonstrators, some who were armed, into the Capitol on December 21, 2020, while the House was in a special session.

The District 23 seat will most likely remain vacant for the remainder of the legislative session.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and statehouse leaders announced there will not be a special session this July.

The July special session was to be called for deliberation on how to best allocate the federal relief money given by the American Rescue Plan, but lawmakers decided the discussion would be better served if it was delayed until the 2022 legislative session.

The city of Portland adopted new and amended Auditor Administrative Rules (ARAs) following a public comment period.

The administrative rule changes are a result of previous litigation and court cases; a need for updating certain dollar amounts to comply with the City Charter’s inflation updates; and from a year of experience implementing the relatively new regulations.

The changes add guidance for social media communications and provide guidance on when and what information may be required in political campaign disclosures.

The Nevada Legislature adjourned sine die June 1.

In the last day of the session, the Legislature passed bills to license cannabis lounges; overhaul state voting policies; change the date of the state’s presidential primary; and mandate all active voters be sent a mail-in ballot in future elections.

Earlier in the year, Nevada passed a bill changing the definition of lobbyist to remove the provision requiring an appearance in person in the Legislative Building or any other building in which the Legislature or any of the standing committees hold meetings.

This does affect lobbyist reporting.

The July 10 lobbyist activity report for activity in June, must be filed before the termination and final report due July 1.

The city of San Diego has declined to renew their contract with Netfile, the city’s longtime online campaign disclosure vendor.

There have been reports that online campaign disclosures will be available for eFile-SD by June 2021.

During the outage of the reporting site, people wishing to file can call the office and request copies of the disclosure filings in PDF format.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little appointed Lori McCann to fill the vacant seat in state House District 6.

McCann’s term began May 17 and will continue until the next general election when the term of office expires.

The seat was vacated by Aaron von Ehlinger, who resigned amid sexual misconduct and rape allegations.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy intends to call two special sessions during the summer on May 20 and August 2.

Dunleavy will task lawmakers with addressing the state budget and the Permanent Fund dividend.

The Legislature’s regular session is scheduled to end May 19 and lawmakers are not on track to finish the state’s budget before then.

During the August session, the Legislature will consider a constitutional amendment to reduce the Permanent Fund and permanently cap the Legislature’s ability to spend from the fund.