ELECTIONS – Amends existing law to provide certain physical presence requirements for state representatives and senators.
This bill updates Idaho's election laws to require state legislative candidates to maintain a fixed residence within their district for at least 120 nights during the year before filing for office. The law applies to all candidates running for state representative or senator positions and includes an exemption for those serving in active military duty. Candidates must also meet existing requirements such as being at least 21 years old, a U.S. citizen, and a registered voter in the district for one year. The changes take effect on January 1, 2027, and do not alter other existing qualifications for state legislators.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Mar 2, 2026
Signed Apr 2, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Bill Text
→
Engrossment 1
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to clarify the title and significantly modify residency requirements for state legislators. The most important change removes the exemption for religious missions from the residency rule, meaning candidates can no longer skip the 120-night physical presence requirement for religious reasons. The text also corrects a grammatical error regarding the phrase 'have, has been' and adjusts the formatting of the night-count requirement.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on legislative district elections, but the applicability of the residency rule has narrowed by removing a specific exception.
ELIGIBILITY
The exemption allowing candidates to bypass the 120-night residency requirement due to a religious mission was deleted.
The phrase 'have, has been' was corrected to 'have been' to fix a grammatical inconsistency in the residency description.
TECHNICAL
The title was updated to reflect that this is the Senate amended version of the bill.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 26, 2026 · House Mar 5, 2026
How they voted
21–14
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 36
Mar 26, 2026
D
Democratic6
66% Yea
R
Republican30
56% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
27
Key actions
9
Committee
3
Amendments
3
Mar 31, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President; returned to House
upper
Mar 31, 2026
Upper · Passed
Received from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
upper
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Rules Suspended: Ayes 66 Nays 0 Abs/Excd 4, read in full as required – PASSED - 38-28-4AYES – Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Cheatum, Church, Cornilles, Crane(12), Crane(13), Dygert, Ehardt, Erickson, Fuhriman, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Garner, Green, Hall(Stone), Handy, Holtzclaw, Manwaring, Mathias, Mickelsen, Miller, Monks, Nelsen, Petzke, Pohanka, Raybould, Raymond, Rubel, Sauter, Shirts(Batt), Vander Woude, Veile, Weber, Wheeler, Mr. SpeakerNAYS – Alfieri, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Bruce, Burgoyn
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Committee
Bills as Amended Referred to JRA for Engrossing
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Concurred in Senate Amendments
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Introduced
Returned from the Senate Amended; Held at Desk
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time as amended in the Senate – PASSED - 20-14-1AYES – Adams, Anthon, Bernt, Blaylock, Burtenshaw, Cook, Den Hartog, Foreman, Guthrie, Harris, Lent, Rabe, Ricks, Ruchti, Shippy, Taylor, Toews, VanOrden, Ward-Engelking, WoodwardNAYS – Bjerke(Bjerke), Carlson, Galloway, Grow, Hart, Keyser, Kohl, Lakey, Lenney, Nichols, Okuniewicz, Wintrow, Zito, ZuiderveldAbsent and excused – SemmelrothFloor Sponsor - HarrisTitle apvd - to House
upper
Mar 23, 2026
Introduced
Amendments reported printed
upper
Mar 20, 2026
Introduced
Amendments ordered printed
upper
Mar 20, 2026
Upper · Passed
Placed in the Committee of the Whole
upper
Mar 17, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported out of committee; to 14th Order for amendment
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, read first time; referred to: State Affairs
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read Third Time in Full – PASSED - 42-26-2AYES – Berch, Bingham, Boyle, Cannon, Cheatum, Church, Cornilles, Crane(12), Crane(13), Dygert, Egbert, Ehardt, Fuhriman, Furniss, Galaviz, Gannon, Garner, Hall(Stone), Handy, Haws, Healey, Holtzclaw, Manwaring, Mathias, McCann, Mickelsen(Athay), Miller, Monks, Nelsen, Palmer, Petzke, Pohanka, Raybould, Raymond, Rubel, Sauter, Shirts, Vander Woude, Veile, Weber, Wheeler, Mr. SpeakerNAYS – Alfieri, Barbieri, Beiswenger, Bruce, Burgoyne, Cayler, Ehle
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
No sponsor information available.
Ask Maddy
·
AI policy assistant
Ask Maddy about H 810
Scope: ID
Hi! I can help you understand H 810. What would you like to know?
Try one of these
i
Maddy answers using official bill text and legislative records. Always verify before sharing.
Sources cited inline