Petition Should be Denied

“It is difficult to avoid the jarring irony running throughout Legislative Defendants’ petition—that now, more than five years after defying the will of the voters and gutting every meaningful part of Proposition 4, it is the Legislature that wants to be its newfound champion, claiming Utah voters must abide yet another election cycle under an unlawful map because there just isn’t enough time to pay adequate fidelity to Proposition 4. On that specious reed, the Legislature asks this Court to invoke its discretionary authority to rescue the Legislature from an “emergency” that is self-created at best and wholly illusory at worst. The district court correctly analyzed the plain text of Proposition 4 and has put in place an orderly process, similar to what courts across the country have used in analogous circumstances. That process will (finally) result in a legal and constitutional map being in place for the 2026 election cycle. There is no “emergency” simply because the Legislature does not want to do the work voters demanded and that it should have done five years ago.

“The petition, which is heavy on rhetoric and light on analysis, should be denied.” Read more

Legislature Seeks a Stay

Sep 9

“The people of Utah can have new congressional maps in place for the 2026 congressional elections. Or they can have new congressional maps resulting from a process that follow all of Proposition 4, which the district court has concluded now governs redistricting in Utah. But given the election calendar, Utahns cannot have both.” Read the petition