In a court ruling issued late Monday, 3rd District Court Judge Dianna Gibson said the Utah Legislature’s 2021 congressional maps violate the state constitution.
In her ruling, Gibson said the maps made in 2021 diluted the political power of Salt Lake County residents by splitting them into four districts and ordered Utah lawmakers to draw a new one.
“The core issue before the Court is whether the Utah State Legislature’s enactment of S.B. 200 unconstitutionally impaired Proposition 4, a citizen initiative designed to reform the redistricting process in Utah and prohibit partisan gerrymandering,” she wrote. “The Legislature is directed to design and enact a remedial congressional redistricting map in conformity with Proposition 4’s mandatory redistricting standards and requirements.”
Not only did she strike down the state’s maps, but she also gave strict guidelines moving forward:
Lawmakers must pass a new congressional map that meets the voter-approved standards of Proposition 4 by Sept. 24, 2025. If they do not, or if the map is challenged as noncompliant, plaintiffs and other groups can submit their own proposed maps to the court on the same day. All parties then have until October 3, 2025, to file objections. An evidentiary hearing is scheduled between Oct. 9-14, 2025, to decide the outcome.
“Neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Utah Constitution grants sole and exclusive authority over redistricting to the Legislature. Because legislative power is shared co-equally and co-extensively between the Legislature and the people, and because redistricting is legislative, the people have the fundamental constitutional right and authority to propose redistricting legislation that is binding on the Legislature,” Gibson wrote.
A hearing to discuss scheduling will take place on Friday.
During oral arguments in February, Gibson said she would come to a ruling as quickly as possible due to Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s request to have the 2026 congressional election electoral maps finalized by Nov. 1 of this year.
No matter the outcome, both parties were expected to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court if they lost, and the case could ultimately make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
And with back-and-forth appeals likely to occur, it remains to be seen if Henderson’s date for finalized 2026 congressional election electoral maps will stay on schedule.
During a media conference held by the plaintiffs outside of the Third District Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Katharine Biele, president of the League of Women Voters, said she hopes the ruling sends a message to state lawmakers.
“We hope it sends a message to the legislature that we want to work with them. We want to work hand in hand with them, because representatives should represent their voters. It is not the other way around. That is what we have been fighting for since 2018,” she said.
Ryan Bell, a member of the Better Boundaries Board of Directors, said that Gibson’s ruling demonstrates effective government power in action.
“We see tonight that the Constitution works. Checks and balances work, our judicial system works, and our time-tested system of representative democratic government is going to remain strong after today,” Bell said. “We respect the power that the legislature has. We expect the legislature to respect the power that the people have.”
Gerrymandering lawsuit background
Redistricting has been at the forefront of national news, with the ongoing conflict between red Texas and blue California — though it’s been a yearslong issue in the state of Utah.
After Texas Republicans made efforts to draw more GOP-friendly districts, California and its Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, argued that the state must “meet fire with fire” by moving forward with plans to redraw its congressional maps in an effort to counteract possible GOP gains in Texas in next year’s midterm elections.
The custody battle for legislative seats has sparked a national reaction, with states like New York and Florida also threatening to redraw maps to gain seats.
The gerrymandering issue in Utah is different.
Back in 2018, Utah voters passed Proposition 4, a ballot initiative created by the group Better Boundaries to ensure fair voting maps in Republican-dominated Utah.
During the 2020 legislative session, the bill SB200 was introduced and passed to “address provisions” in the proposition. The bill transformed the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission into an advisory body.
So when new congressional district maps were drawn in 2021, the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government filed a case in Utah’s 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City, against the Utah legislature for “diluting” voter strength across the state and for repealing Proposition 4 in 2020, which “violated the people’s constitutionally guaranteed lawmaking power and right to alter and reform their government.”
Better Boundaries supported the lawsuit against the state legislature, claiming its actions rewriting the proposition were unconstitutional, and last year the Utah Supreme Court agreed.
After hearing oral arguments on whether state law allowed courts to rule on partisan gerrymandering and whether the legislature’s repeal of Proposition 4 was unconstitutional, the state’s highest court concluded that, “The people’s right to alter or reform the government through an initiative is constitutionally protected from government infringement, including legislative amendment, repeal, or replacement of the initiative in a manner that impairs the reform enacted by the people. Thus, an alleged violation of the people’s exercise of these rights presents a legally cognizable claim on which relief may be granted.”
At the end of the day, “we still believe that people should pick their politicians, not the other way around,” Better Boundaries said in an email to the Deseret News.
Ahead of the ruling Monday, Better Boundaries Executive Director Elizabeth Rasmussen told KUTV that “when we gerrymander, we put certain political parties or certain groups together that we want to see represented. And so you’re really not representing what the actual communities look like.”
Overall, gerrymandering is about partisanship, she added, “And it just creates a bigger divide. And so here in Utah, we’re just wanting to take the politics out of the map-drawing process and make it so that Utahns actually feel like they have a voice.”
Not everyone sees it that way.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X ahead of the ruling that “almost anything promoted as an ‘independent commission’ is often a strategy to give Democrats an edge they can’t win through fair elections. This is especially true for legislative redistricting, the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries.”
He added, “In essence, the U.S. Constitution already designates a form of redistricting commission: state legislatures. There’s little justification for transferring that power to unelected and unaccountable individuals, such as those on independent commissions.”
Reactions to the ruling
Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz released a joint statement about the ruling. “While disappointed by the court’s decision, we remain committed to protecting the voices of Utahns and upholding the Legislature’s state and federal constitutional authority to draw congressional districts. We will carefully review the ruling and consider our next steps,” they said.
Jackie Morgan, senior partner at Elevate Strategies, told the Deseret News that Gibson’s ruling was the beginning of a new era in Utah.
“This isn’t just a courtroom victory, it’s a turning point. Utah is one of the youngest, fastest-growing, and most politically dynamic states in the country,” she said. “With these new maps, we’re going to see emerging leaders, energized voters, and, for the first time in a generation, a real contest for power. This is the foothold that could shift control of Congress.”
Brian King, Chair of the Utah Democratic Party, said in a press release that “Today’s district court ruling is a major victory for voters, and a major blow to extreme, out-of-touch politicians. Finally, despite the best efforts of the legislative supermajority, Utahns will be getting fair maps and real representation, something they voted for nearly eight years ago. Utah Democrats are ready to hit the ground running next year, and we look forward to holding Republicans accountable to their constituents in these new, fairly-drawn districts.”
Utah’s GOP Chair Rob Axson countered in an emailed press release, “Once again, certain members of Utah’s judiciary abandon the principles of our Constitutional Republic. Using earlier flawed rulings to justify their opinions over the principles of our founding is a special kind of hubris — Judicial Activism in Action!”
Comments