Judge Rules Utah Congressional Map Must Be Redrawn Immediately

Salt Lake County District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled that Utah state legislators must within one month adopt a Congressional district map that complies with standards that were approved by voters.

Gibson found the legislature was wrong to replace an independent commission’s Congressional district map with the one that was used for 2022 and 2024 elections, The map created by legislators eliminated a Salt Lake City district that swung between Republicans and Democrats, carving it up to become pieces of four districts that went to Republicans by wide margins.

Legislators complained about the short timeline set by the judge, although they have the map drawn up by the independent commission which meets requisite standards.

Gibson responded, “While the timelines here are short, redistricting has been accomplished under tighter timelines in other cases.” She pointed to this summer’s abrupt mid-cycle redistricting by Texas as an example. “While other states are currently redrawing their congressional plans to intentionally render some citizen votes meaningless, Utah could redesign its congressional plan with an intention to protect its citizens’ right to vote and to ensure that each citizen’s vote is meaningful.”

This case came to Gibson because in 2018, a ballot initiative narrowly passed to establish a commission to map the state’s legislative and Congressional districts. In 2020, the legislature repealed the initiative, declared the commission to be only advisory, and ignored the commission’s map. The state Supreme Court ruled that the legislature overstepped its limited power to change laws set directly by voters.

That ruling pushed the validity of the legislature’s districting map to Gibson.

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