Washington, D.C. — Today, the Third Judicial District Court issued a decision in League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature, which fully reinstated Proposition 4, a state law that was enacted in 2018 through a ballot initiative, and struck down the state’s gerrymandered congressional map. As a result of the decision, Utah’s congressional map is required to be redrawn in a manner that adheres to strict guardrails against gerrymandering included in Proposition 4. 

“This is a victory for Utahns, who voted in 2018 to put an end to gerrymandering. When Utah Republicans illegally undermined the state’s citizen-led redistricting commission in order to enact an egregious gerrymander following the 2020 census, citizens fought back in court,” said Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC).  “Utahns’ tenacity – fighting in court for years to achieve a fair map where the voters, not the politicians, decide elections stands in sharp contrast to what Republicans are doing to Texas. This clear decision declaring Proposition 4 to be the law of the state and mandating a new map that adheres to state laws that guard against gerrymandering puts Utah on a path toward fairness.  

“Whenever and wherever the people have the opportunity, they support systems that promote fairness. The decision of the district court in Utah is consistent with the will of the people and should serve as a warning to Republicans in other states who are intent on drawing maps that silence the voters and harm our democracy,” Holder concluded. 

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

In 2018, Utahns passed Proposition 4, a ballot measure that aimed to reform the state’s redistricting process and prevent gerrymandering by establishing an independent, citizen-led redistricting commission and parameters for maps to adhere to in order to ensure fairness. Those parameters include a ban against partisan gerrymandering, a requirement to keep communities of interest together and minimize splitting apart cities, counties and towns, among other redistricting criteria. However, leading up to the 2021 redistricting cycle, the Republican-led Utah legislature repealed the newly enacted ballot measure and replaced it with significantly watered-down reforms, including making the state’s commission only serve an advisory role instead of being in charge of enacting the state’s redistricting maps, in order to enact a gerrymandered congressional map. Today’s decision fully reinstates Proposition 4 as it was enacted by Utahns at the ballot box in 2018.  

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