Utah GOP’s Controversial Map: The Utah Supreme Court will debate whether a congressional map designed to dilute Democratic ballots is subject to judicial review or whether it is a political matter beyond its jurisdiction. In 2020, Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah, granted Joseph R. Biden Jr. an 11-point victory over Donald Trump.
In November 2023, the state’s Republican-controlled legislature drew a new political map to ensure that Republican voters outnumbered Democratic voters in all four congressional districts.
Tuesday, the Utah Supreme Court will deliberate whether or not to join the contentious national debate over partisan gerrymandering. A lawsuit challenging the state’s House map has been submitted, and the state Supreme Court must now decide whether or not to hear the case, or whether partisan maps are a political matter beyond the court’s jurisdiction.
In 2019, the United States Supreme Court examined a comparable issue and determined that the maps were beyond its jurisdiction. Those who advocate for the right of citizens to vote, however, cite the Utah Constitution as a more compelling argument than the federal one for limiting legislative districts.
In addition, he mentioned the State Constitution’s protections of free elections and the right to vote as additional pertinent provisions that are absent from the federal Constitution. State Senator Scott D. Sandall, the Republican co-chair of the State Legislature redistricting committee that created the House map, did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
Utah GOP’s Controversial Map: Legal Battle Ensues, Salt Lake Democrats Impacted
Legislators argued in court documents that the State Constitution gave them the exclusive authority to construct political districts and that the plaintiffs were attempting to impose “illusory standards of political equality” on the process. Although Utah is a conservative state, no one argues that the existence of four Republican-dominated districts is inevitable. Mr. Gaber stated, “If you draw a very compact circle around the middle of Salt Lake County, you will obtain a Democratic district.”
The dispute centres on whether Republican legislators had the authority to draw a map without judicial oversight that would guarantee their party a majority in the four seats.
The outcome of the Utah case could have far-reaching effects, affecting not only the delicate political balance in the profoundly divided U.S. House of Representatives, but also the growing body of legal precedents that influence the decisions of courts in other states.
After the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts could no longer hear cases involving political gerrymandering, state courts became an important venue for those who oppose unjust districting. According to University of Kentucky expert Joshua A. Douglas, many state constitutions share comparable protections for elections and voters, often derived from one another. Douglas emphasised the significance of the growing body of legal precedents in state gerrymandering cases.
Five states have declared partisan gerrymandering illegal: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Alaska, New York, and most of New Mexico. The courts in both Ohio and North Carolina have reached the same conclusion. In April, a North Carolina court reversed course after elections shifted the court’s political balance from Democratic to Republican, and the Ohio court was unable to compel the legislature to comply with its findings.
The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding a challenge to the state’s legislative and congressional districts. In addition, after progressives won a majority on Wisconsin’s highest court in an April election, a lawsuit challenging the state’s extreme Republican gerrymandering of the state legislature is widely expected.
One of the closest parallels to the Utah gerrymander can be found in Nashville, where the Republican-controlled state legislature divided a once Democratic-majority House district into three predominantly Republican districts. Democrats have not challenged the scheme in state courts, possibly because they believe they have little chance of success before a Republican-dominated Supreme Court.
In Utah, however, the five justices of the State Supreme Court are not known for being easily swayed by political winds. They are chosen according to their merits. In this case, the plaintiffs are the Utah League of Women Voters, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, and a limited number of Utah voters. They claim that the Utah State Legislature not only designed the state’s congressional map in a partisan manner, but also disregarded the people’s will.
According to a provision in the state’s constitution, voters have the authority to establish new laws and repeal laws passed by the legislature. In 2018, voters passed legislation making it legal to sue election officials for unjustly drawing districts to favour a particular candidate or party. The legislature eventually repealed the statute and then drew the congressional map that divided Salt Lake County into four districts.
The plaintiffs argue that the repeal violated their right to “alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require.” In addition, they argue that the state’s constitutional protections for free speech, free association, and equal protection should be interpreted to prohibit political maps, but the gerrymandered map disregards these protections.
On their side, Republican legislators contend that they were within their rights to repeal the redistricting law, just as they are within their rights to repeal any other state law. They argue that the objective of the plaintiffs is identical to their own: to establish an uneven playing field.
Katie Wright, executive director of Better Boundaries, the grassroots organisation that led the successful campaign to enact the 2018 redistricting law and is supporting the case, asserts that there is a distinction. She noted that the massive public outrage that followed the 2021 announcement of the new legislative districts is still raging today.
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