More about Redistricting - Posted originally on November 11, 2021

In the House chamber right now. We have approved the School Board, Congressional, and House District maps. (Surprisingly, the School Board map went through 7 revisions!) Senate still to come.

But there seems to be so much confusion about the role of the IRC (Independent Redistricting Commission) and why their maps were not acceptable that I wanted to share this information, most of which comes from the House staff. We asked them to put together a piece to explain what is happening:

Background

Every ten years, the Legislature (not the IRC) is constitutionally required to redraw district boundaries to reflect population changes in the most recent population data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Legislative Redistricting Committee (LRC) visited every corner and region of the state, listened to the feedback, desires, and concerns of Utahns, and worked tirelessly to draw maps that create fair boundaries that reflect the principle of “one person, one vote.”

Who should make redistricting decisions?

Article IX of the Utah Constitution says “the Legislature shall divide the state into congressional, legislative, and other districts.”

The Legislature (including members of both parties) is best positioned to make these decisions as elected representatives of the entire state of Utah.

Over one million Utahns from every part of the state voted for the current members of the Utah House. That’s 72% of those who voted in the 2020 House election.

How did the IRC and the LRC differ?

The Utah Independent Redistricting Commission worked on a parallel path with a similar end goal. Thousands of hours were worked by both groups, however, the process and results of the two groups differed in more ways than one.

The Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) was made up of seven members, five of which were partisanly appointed and most reside along the Wasatch Front.

The Legislative Redistricting Committee (LRC) was made up of 20 elected officials, from every region of the state and both political parties.

The IRC did not acknowledge current representation elected through the democratic process. To maintain transparency, the LRC provided the public with current legislator addresses and current district boundaries.

Members of the LRC and legislators are most familiar with the needs and concerns of their areas and constituents. They were elected to represent all areas of the state and live and work in those areas. Contrarily, members of the IRC have a different perspective of the state, as most members reside along the Wasatch Front.

Shouldn’t the Legislature just adopt UIRC maps?

Some would argue that in addition to satisfying the actual language included in Proposition 4, the passage of the ballot measure by less than a 1% margin implies that the Legislature must not only consider but also adopt the IRC maps.

The Legislature takes seriously the responsibility placed upon us by the Constitution and the millions of Utahns we have been elected to represent to look critically at these maps and decide whether they are best for our state.

Why the Legislature stands by the work of the Legislative Redistricting Committee:

The Legislative Redistricting Committee prioritized a “One Utah” vision throughout all its map drawing. We are much stronger in congress when we have 6 members representing both urban and rural Utah. When the committee toured Utah, one of the main requests was an urban/rural mix. Rural Utah is the lifeblood of the state in terms of agriculture, energy, and recreation while urban Utah drives our economy.

The legislative maps preserve the cores of prior districts to allow voters to maintain continuity of representation.

Population shifts may require some sitting legislators or state school board members to be combined into one district, but removing a duly elected representative of the people from office by redistricting is not something to be taken lightly.

If voters want new representatives they are able to elect them every two years.

Unfortunately, the numbers were such that the House maps adopted by the Legislature still combine the districts of 3 of our republican colleagues and 1 democratic colleague.

The IRC combined 40% of the House in some maps.

Aren’t these Republican gerrymandered maps?

The Legislature reapportioned seats based on population growth, creating two new districts in areas that have experienced explosive growth. Eagle Mountain had over 38,000 extra voting constituents and the Herriman/Riverton area had over 34,000 extra voting constituents. These two new districts will balance out populations and better reflect the principle of “one person, one vote.”

The Independent Redistricting Commissions’ House maps consolidated up to 4 House Democrat seats. If our goal with redistricting was political gain, we would simply adopt the IRC maps and take over several additional Republican seats. However, members of both political parties were involved with the map-drawing process and had the goal of creating boundaries that benefit all Utahns, not just Republicans or Democrats.

Comments on the Individual Maps:

State School Board - we believe the state of Utah is best served when school board members are required to represent more than one district. This allows them to represent a broader array of needs, rather than hyper-focusing on the issues facing a single district. This contributes to a “One Utah” approach.

Congressional - In keeping with the “One Utah” philosophy of the committee, the legislature drew maps that allowed for each member of Congress to represent a district that was representative of the entire state, rather than districts that allow them to put blinders on anything outside their half of the rural/urban divide.

House and Senate - members of the Legislative Redistricting Committee listened closely to the input provided by Utahns from around the state in many meetings and public hearings. They prioritized clean, easy-to-distinguish borders, taking city and county lines, major roads/natural boundaries, and straight lines into account.

Not every line is perfect -- we are still bound by legal deviations which require us to balance districts, and the inability to split census blocks.