The public can help to UNDO gerrymandering in Utah
THERE ARE DEADLINES: FINISH BY OCT 5TH
History:
In 2018 voters decided that we wanted fair district maps - no gerrymandering in Utah. Gerrymandering is a process of packing unlike voters together and dispersing like-minded voters so that, in effect, the politicians pick their voters. Our laws and constitution intend for voters to select their lawmakers.
The Utah legislature IGNORED the voters rights and imposed a gerrymandered map on us in 2020. Their map resulted in 4 GOP house members whereas one democratic house member had been elected prior to the 2020 redistricting.
Lawsuits followed. Now, 8 years later voters finally have a chance at getting what is required by law and by proposition 4.
WE CAN VOTE ON 6 possible MAPS.
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Keep in mind that only one of these maps evolved from the process set up by voters. The voter-generated map
Keep in mind that only one of these maps evolved as public comments were provided during the redistricting commission's state-wide listening sessions. That map is labeled as the "Escamilla/Owens map" but it should more accurately be called the voter-generated map.
Some updates were necessary in order for the voter-generated map
to honor legal changes in the 5 years that Utah has been gerrymandered by the supermajority in the Utah legislature and the 7 years since voters lawfully elected to require fair maps.
All the other maps (A-E) were proposed by the same legislature (with some different members) that implemented the gerrymandered maps.
Maps A-E were proposed, with a brief and manipulated comment period, by the same legislature (with some new members) that showed a clear intent to keep gerrymandering-- until the Utah Supreme Court and judges stopped them.
The legislature was so upset to be told that fair districts must be implemented, by law, that in the 2025 legislative session there were laws and bills to strip courts of their power.
Is the supermajority in Utah's legislature likely to generate good and fair maps? Decide for yourself by exploring the results.
Red dots represent negative comments, green dots represent positive comments.
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| Current gerrymandered districts in SLC. |
Each person can comment on every NEW map and do so many times on each map.
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| SLTribune article: All 6 options., Only the "Escamilla/Owens map" which we call the voter-generated map, responded to extensive public input. |
Commenting:
We encourage you to have a look at the 6 different maps and submit comments on all of them. The lettered, A-E maps were generated by a partisan consultant for the supermajority in the Utah legislature-those are maps A-E. Only one map arose from extensive voter input.
From Tribune:
To view the five maps A-E drawn for the Legislature by an expert hired by the redistricting committee, visit this link: https://le.utah.gov/interim/2025/pdf/00003649.pdf
And the map drawn by the two Democrats on the ten-person committee is here: We are calling this the voter-generated map
https://le.utah.gov/interim/2025/pdf/00003659.pdf
Above each map is a link to the comment page.
Step 2: Do your homework. You can zoom in to see street-level details or put in your address to see how the map would impact you and your neighbors.
Step 3: Click “Add Comment” in the upper right.
Once you do that, there will be a box that says “Click on Map.” This will let you drop a pin on a spot of the map if you want to flag a specific area that is the focus of your comment — for example, if you think a city should be moved from one district to another.
Step 4: Once you drop your pin, a window will pop up asking you to categorize your comment as “Dislike,” “Like” or “Opinion.” Once you type in your full name, address, email and phone number, you’ll then be able to type your comment in the box below. After you write your comment, click “Add Comment,” and it will be posted.
To make comments on the maps, click on the links in the above paragraph, and to make a comment, click in the "Link to Map Viewer and Public Comment" link. You can see the specific map, the location of the place is in the state they are commenting about, and the comments on the right side. There will be a box that says “Click on Map”, where you drop a pin on a spot of the map if you want to flag a specific area that is the focus of your comment — for example, if you think a city should be moved from one district to another. Once you drop your pin, a window will pop up asking you to categorize your comment as “Dislike,” “Like” or “Opinion.” Type in your full name, address, email and phone number, you’ll then be able to type your comment in the box below. After you write your comment, click “Add Comment,” and it will be posted. THE FIRST TIME you post you will get a pop up that informs you that you have an email to confirm this comment. Just go to that email, click on the link, and that confirms you are a human. You won't need to do this final step again.
It is our understanding that comments should hew to the rubrics as set out in Prop. 4 and the legislature. A good place for a scoring rubric is here, and here. The second source provides great advice regarding how to phrase your comments. A very important point is that the process is is not supposed to use 'political data' in creating the maps, nor in commenting on them - the legislative committee used the criteria laid out here, supposedly, to score the maps. Robert Gehrke of the Salt Lake Tribune summarizes the process as:
"So, given the constraints placed on the process, comments are best aimed at expressing a preference for an existing map — and likely one of those proposed by the Legislature — rather than suggesting specific changes or submitting a new map."
A final point - Utah is very likely to get a 5th congressional district in 2031, and we might get to do this again.
MORE:
Starting Friday, Sept 26, until Oct 5., the public can/MUST comment on the redistricting process underway in Utah. For more backgrounds on this topic, please visit here and here, for the history of and current status on how congressional districts are to be drawn in Utah.
Short version: District Court judge Diana Gibson, ruled on Aug. 25 that the state legislature has to follow the law laid out in Proposition 4, (Prop 4) a voter approved effort in 2018 to create an independent districting commission for Utah's congressional districts. This ruling results in redrawing of the Utah Congressional district boundaries for the 2026 election; according to Lt. Governor Diedre Henderson, who oversees elections in Utah, the deadline for new maps is Nov. 10. Note that Prop 4 is about fairness.
The process got pretty detailed, because the majority Republicans of the committee proposed 5 maps under a VERY COMPLEX process that they felt adheres to the Prop 4 rules. They created a single new "factor" to decide n the fairness of maps. These maps were generated by a consultant in a secret process. His work has primarily been for Republicans in Texas and Ohio.
The two Democrats on the committee, Sen, Luz Escamilia and Rep. Doug Owens, proposed this map which updated one created by the redistricting panel.