Judge denies Legislature’s preemptive request to halt redistricting ruling

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — After issuing an order that Utah must redraw its congressional districts, the judge in the Utah redistricting case has denied the Legislature’s request from September 2024 that the court dismiss other pending counts in the case and also denied the request to wait to impose the redistricting timeline until the Utah Supreme Court makes a ruling on the decision issued on Monday.

Utah Third District Judge Dianna Gibson denied the request from the Legislature, ordering that the Legislature move forward on proposing new congressional maps within 30 days as she ordered in her decision on Monday.

The Legislature made this request in September, when the plaintiffs (League of Women Voters of Utah, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, and others) filed additional claims that Utah’s Legislature didn’t follow procedures for Proposition 4. This decision is a denial of that request.

“The parties should proceed in an attempt to resolve all outstanding issues as expeditiously as possible for the people of Utah,” Gibson wrote. She also wrote that she did not find good cause to grant a stay at this time.

The next step in the path of halting Monday’s ruling for the Legislature would be an appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, if they decide to take that route.

The ruling from Monday found that Utah’s current congressional boundaries are a result of lawmakers unconstitutionally overturning a citizen ballot initiative (Proposition 4) that created an independent redistricting commission. As such, the current maps must be tossed out, and Proposition 4 has been upheld as the law of the land governing redistricting in Utah.

Gibson also denied the Legislature’s request to dismiss other pending counts in the case, finding that they did not present a legal basis to dismiss those counts. The Legislature argued that Proposition 4 hindered the Legislature’s ability to set its own internal procedural rules, but Gibson found that the federal Elections Clause does not give the Legislature sole and exclusive authority to redistrict.

“Redistricting is an act of legislation, and legislative power is equally shared by the Legislature and the people of Utah,” she wrote in Tuesday’s decision.

The Legislature also argued that redistricting presents political questions that should not be decided upon by a court, but Gibson rejected that argument in a previous decision. Additionally, Gibson found that ruling on the final count about what to do if there is no new map would be premature at this time, so there is no legal basis to dismiss it.

The court scheduled a status conference for Friday, August 29 at 10 a.m., where the plaintiffs and the defendants will need to discuss the proposed schedule and request any modifications. This decision means that the status conference will move forward as planned.

Background on the lawsuit

This issue began in 2018, when Utah voters passed Proposition 4, a citizen ballot initiative run by Better Boundaries. The initiative created a redistricting commission to draw new boundary lines for Utah’s congressional districts and prohibited partisan gerrymandering.

In 2020, the Utah Legislature gutted the commission created by the initiative in S.B. 200, and it replaced maps with its own in H.B. 2004.

Plaintiffs filed the lawsuit arguing that the current district maps break up Salt Lake City into four districts that dilute minority votes in the traditionally red state. They also argued that Utahns have a constitutionally protected right to “alter and reform” their government, which was what Proposition 4 did before it was changed by the Legislature.

The Utah Supreme Court upheld the people’s right to alter and reform government in a major ruling from July of last year, which meant that the lawsuit was able to move forward in Utah’s lower court. Utah’s top lawmakers discredited the ruling, calling it the “worst decision they’ve ever seen.” Earlier this year, both parties argued the merits of the case before Judge Gibson.

Monday’s decision provides a timeline to govern redistricting proceedings to ensure that there is a new map by November 1, as Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson has asked the court for the case to be finalized by November so that if new lines need to be drawn, they can be drawn before the 2026 midterm elections.

The Legislature has 30 days, until September 25, to design a remedial congressional map that complies with Proposition 4.

You can read the latest ruling in its entirety below.