Utah’s Gerrymandered House Map Ignored Voters’ Will, State Supreme Court Says

Utah’s State Legislature violated the State Constitution in 2021 when it drew a gerrymandered map of the state’s four congressional districts in defiance of a voter-approved ballot initiative calling for fair maps, the State Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday.

The Republican-drawn map divided Salt Lake City, the state’s most populous area and a stronghold for President Biden in the 2020 election, among the four districts. That effectively ensured that no Democrat would win election to any of the state’s House seats. Thursday’s ruling means that a lower court can proceed to hear a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of that map.

The decision will have no immediate effect on the congressional boundaries. But it stated unequivocally that the 2018 ballot initiative, which set up an independent commission to draw political maps and explicitly forbade partisan gerrymandering, was a legitimate exercise of voters’ power that the Legislature could not simply dismiss.

“The people’s constitutional right to alter or reform their government is protected from government infringement,” the court stated, unless the Legislature can show that any changes are “narrowly tailored to advance a compelling governmental interest.”