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 The Utah Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the legislature unlawfully rescinded the law and replaced it with their own version – HB200.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.