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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's redistricting process received a passing grade — barely — according to a nationwide report on political map-making.
Utah was given a C-minus on the 2023 Community Redistricting Report Card by Common Cause, a national political watchdog group. The report was based on interviews with organizations, advocates and organizers in each of the 50 states, and is aimed at improving the process for drawing congressional maps for future redistricting cycles.
The report put Utah near the middle of the pack of states, along with Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wyoming. California and Massachusetts received A-minus grades — the highest mark given out this year — and seven states were given Fs.
Utah's middling grade was based on the state having "both the best of redistricting and the worst of redistricting," according to the report.
A 2018 ballot measure created an independent redistricting commission in the state, which Common Cause considers to be one of the most effective methods for drawing maps. The report knocks Utah because the Legislature opted to enact maps it created behind closed doors and "after rushed hearings," it states.
The report notes the current congressional maps split the Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County four ways, giving Republicans an advantage in all four congressional districts.
It says lawmakers ignored public input, after the commission created nearly 600 possible maps and and received thousands of comments from the public.
The report said the "commission's role was rendered toothless" by lawmakers' decision to create their own maps.
Opponents of the current boundaries have filed a lawsuit alleging the maps infringe their rights to meaningfully participate in the electoral process, while lawmakers have frequently cited a desire to have each district contain both rural and urban constituencies.
The Utah Supreme Court heard arguments in the case over the summer, but has asked for further arguments from both sides.
Regardless of what the courts say, Common Cause recommends the redistricting commission, not the Legislature, be given final authority to select congressional maps, because giving lawmakers the final say "still runs the risk of a partisan gerrymander and/or incumbent protection."
The states with the same grade as Utah received those marks for similar reasons. Delaware had input from community groups, but Common Cause said the final maps were drawn by lawmakers in a manner that largely protects incumbents.
