Utah’s tense redistricting fight didn’t start with Trump : NPR

A woman took a photo in the Utah state capitol on May 3, 2022 in Salt Lake City.

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George Frey / Getty Images North America

Salt Lake City – Utah is getting closer to restarting its borders of the congress in an unusual redistribution process of mid -December, but it is not yet clear what this card will look like. During a stormy meeting of the Committee on Wednesday, state legislators said they are considering many options before deciding in October.

Unlike other states led by the Republicans, which is rediscovering this year, the new Utah card should give Democrats more likely to win at least one of the four districts of the State Congress, which could help Democrats to control the American Chamber. State legislators have been ordered to draw the new districts after a The Utah judge judged that they had acted unconstitutional in the creation of the map used in 2022.

Goop “complying with protest”

The republican supermajority of the legislative assembly has clearly indicated that they are not happy that they had to return to the drawing board and comply with the protest. The card must be approved by legislators and the court by November 10 to be used mid-term of 2026, according to Lieutenant-Governor Deidre Henderson oFIFT.

Utah Empty Congress card Divide the state’s most blue area in the county of Salt Lake, among the four districts of the state, which makes four seats at the American house safely for the Republicans. This split was the biggest criticism of the card, in particular by the residents of the county.

All the new limits proposed Divide the countyThe most populous of the state, but some only divide it into two districts.

Instead of advancing a single proposed card, the redistribution committee of the Legislative Assembly said on Wednesday that it will allow the public to weigh on any card that had been published on its website Before making a decision. This includes six cards ordered by legislators, as well as the proposals submitted by citizens.

Legislators will choose from one of these cards, and only these cards on October 6. The card will return to court so that the judge approves him.

The national image

Although the redistribution of Utah came from a local judicial case, it takes place in the middle of a Redistribution breed Throughout the country, President Trump has left.

Usually the states are releasing at the start of the decade using new census numbers. In order to try to keep the GOP HOLD on the American house and to worry in mid-term electoral losses, Trump asked the states led by the Republicans to redirect before 2026 and to help their party to win seats.

At Trump, Texas has passed a new card that could help Republicans win five other seats. To counter, California Democratic leaders ask voters to approve a new card that could help their party win five seats on November 4. The Missouri followed Trump of Trump, with the legislature led by the Republicans passing a map that could oust a member of the Democrat Congress.

Republican leaders of Indiana and Florida say they are working to follow Trump’s call. They and other Republicans across the country say that holding the American room is essential to maintain Trump’s agenda and prevent surveys on its administration which could be launched by a house led by Democrats.

The Utahns who continued

In 2018, utah voters narrowly approved a voting initiative known as proposals 4 which, among other things, created an independent redistribution commission and prohibited gerrymandering. In 2020, the Legislative Assembly repealed and replaced the initiative with a law which weakened the role of the Commission and suppressed the ban on the partisan gerrymandering.

In 2022, the League of Women Voters of Utah, Mormon Women for Sethical Government and a handful of UTAH voters continued the legislature. They allegedly alleged that the Legislative Assembly had violated Utahns’ right to modify and reform their government and that the map of the State Congress in 2021 was Gerrymandered to promote the Republicans.

In August this yearA UTAH judge judged that the derogation by the legislator from proposition 4 was unconstitutional. Because the map of the State Congress in 2021 was a product of this unconstitutional act, the judge said that he had to go.

Without valid cards, the Legislative Assembly must restart the limits in accordance with proposal 4, which the judge has also restored.

At the same time, the legislators of the GOP state are trying to pass a Invoice This creates a standardized method to test “partisan symmetry” in congress cards to determine if the limits are fair.

But the Democrats of the Committee argued that the test does not work in states like Utah where a party dominates in the elections on the level of the State.

This proposed test is what the most Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of Better Boundaries, the group which supported proposal 4.

“I see this as an armament of the process to get a card they want,” said Rasmussen.

If the complainants of the trial objections to the card of the legislature, they are also authorized to submit a proposal to the court. If this happens, there will be additional audiences at the end of October to decide which card will be used.