Victory Number One
In the case of League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Governments vs. Utah State Legislature. Utah Constitution Article I, Section 2, the source of the people’s co-equal lawmaking authority.
“All political power is inherent in the people; and all free governments are founded on their authority for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right to alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require.”
We will try to keep you up-to-date on the case after this significant victory but keep in mind, redistricting is a moving target. Not only do we have to keep an eye on the legal case itself, but also on the Legislature and its multi-pronged efforts to deny citizen rights.
What you should focus on is this: Proposition 4 is now the law of the land – no matter what the legislature does. The Utah Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the legislature unlawfully rescinded the law and replaced it with their own version – HB200.
The legislature is trying to determine how it will comply with Prop 4 and of course, if it can delay and delay until it is too late for new maps to be in place for the 2026 election.
Third District Judge Dianna Gibson has given the legislature a tight timeline, which would end on September 24. Then, they must produce a map that complies with the provisions of Prop 4. Our attorneys believe that a map may be drawn but it likely will not follow the terms.
“It would be tremendously unjust to allow an unconstitutional and unlawful map … to govern another election cycle when the people passed this in 2018,” said Mark Gaber, one of our attorneys from Campaign Legal Center. “This has to be the point at which it stops.”
We heard arguments about what the legislature deems as unfair and how they could allow 10 days of public comment. Of course, the public has provided thousands of comments during the period of the Independent Redistricting Commission.
The judge has set another date - Friday, October 3 – when we and other interested parties could file briefs with objections to any legislative congressional maps. Then there may be an evidentiary hearing sometime between October 9-14.
The legislature has indicated they are married to the concept of a rural-urban mix for the districts. And yet they still have to abide by the law. It should have been simple enough and never eliminated the constitutional right of the legislature to draw boundaries:
Structure: The proposition created a seven-member commission with members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders.
Role: The commission is required to submit redistricting plans to the legislature for consideration. While the legislature can choose to enact its own map, it must publicly issue a detailed written report explaining why it chose a different plan.
Proposition 4 included an express prohibition on partisan gerrymandering and specified the situations in which the Legislature and Commission could consider partisan information, stating:
The Legislature and the Commission may not divide districts in a manner that purposefully or unduly favors or disfavors any incumbent elected official, candidate or prospective candidate for elective office, or any political party.
Time Line
Source - Salt Lake Tribune “How we got here: Utah’s multi year battle over gerrymandering”
Robert Gehrke & Emily Anderson Stern
August 26, 2025 Updated August 29, 2025
11/6/2018 voters passed Proposition 4 - a ballot initiate create an independent redistricting commission to draw voting maps (passes 50.3%).
2/27/2020 Legislative Session bill SB200 passed to address changes in the initiative making the Commission purely advisory, removed the ban on partisan gerrymandering, but not repeal
the 2018 measure. Signed by Governor Gary Herbert.
2/1/2021 Picks for independent redistricting commission named by: 1 member appointment by the Governor (Governor Cox), 1 member appointed by majority party of Utah Senat, 1 member appointed by majority party of Utah House of Representatives, 1 member appointed by minority party of Utah Senate, 1 member appointed by minority party of Utah House of Representatives. These five select two additional “at large” members from list of candidates provided by Utah. Legislative General Counsel, not be registered with either major political party.
11/1/2021 Independent Redistricting Commission submits 12 unanimously recommended maps to the Legislature’s redistricting committee. Among them, were three for congressional boundaries.
11/8/2021 Legislature’s redistricting committee votes to reject the maps and publishes their own which splits Salt Lake County into four districts.
3/17/2022 League of Women Voters, MWEG, and seven Plaintiffs file lawsuit.
5/2/2022 Legislature’s attorneys ask 3rd District Judge Gibson to dismiss lawsuit saying it’s a political issue, not a legal issue.
7/26/22 Legislature’s attorneys unsuccessfully ask Judge Gibson to pause until a North Carolina Supreme Court case is decided. She declined.
10/24/2022 Judge Gibson rejects state’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, but dropped plaintiffs’ allegations that Legislature improperly overrode Prop 4 (claim later revived by Utah Supreme
Court).
11/26/2022 Attorneys for Legislature asks Utah Supreme Court to intervene in the gerrymandering dispute after Judge Gibson refuses to through out the lawsuit.
4/7/2023. Amicus brief filed with Utah Supreme Court by US Reps. Blake Moore, Chris Stewart, John Curtis & Burgess Owens states, “There is no constitutional right to be free from
partisan gerrymandering.”
7/11/23 Utah Supreme Court hears oral arguments over whether the Legislature’s changes to Prop 4 overstepped their constitutional authority.
7/11/2024 Utah Supreme Court unanimously rules that the Legislature cannot repeal or substantially amend a citizen-passed ballot initiative that reforms government without a
compelling reason.
8/21/2024 Legislative leaders, under emergency authority, call a special session to adopt a proposed constitutional amendment (Amendment D) for the 2024 ballot to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling and give the Legislature the power to override citizen-passed initiatives.
9/12/2024. Judge Gibson declares Amendment D void citing its deceptive presentation on the ballot and the Legislature’s failure to publish the text of the amendment in newspapers, as required by the Utah Constitution.
9/25/24 Utah Supreme Court unanimously upholds Gibson’s ruling, voiding Amendment D from the ballot.
1/31/25 Argued in Judge Gibson’s court again. Lt Gov. Henderson asks that a ruling come in time for congressional maps to be finalized before November 1 so candidates can file for the 2026 election.
8/25/2025 Judge Gibson throws out congressional maps and orders Legislature to draw new districts that comply with the 2018 initiative (Proposition 4) banning partisan gerrymandering.
8/29/2025 Attorneys meet with Judge Gibson for a status conference to discuss the next steps in the case and timeline.
9/24/2025 Lawmakers must adopt new congressional maps that comply with Proposition 4 by this date.
11/1/2025 Lt Gov office asked that congressional districts be finalized by this date.