Here are the five maps the Utah legislature will choose to redistrict Utah’s congressional lines

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) —The Utah legislature’s Redistricting Committee released five proposed maps as a part of their court-ordered redistricting process before the first planned public meeting.

The maps titled A, B, C, D, and E propose splitting Utah into four different versions, each of which splits Salt Lake County in a different way.

Notably, Options D and E appear to be so-called “donut holes,” a type of redistricting pattern that hollows out some communities to keep them together, as opposed to what’s called a “pizza pie,” where the maps take a wedge of each community.

Utah GOP lawmakers have continually argued that having a mix of urban and rural Utahns in each district, via the “pizza pie” approach, best serves the needs of Utahns.

Here are the five proposed maps. Click on any picture to comment:

Why new maps?

The maps come after the Utah legislature was recently denied an appeal to halt the third district court’s ruling from Judge Dianna Gibson that directed the legislature to create new maps before September 25.

Her ruling determined that the Utah legislature violated Utahns’ rights to reform their government when it overturned the 2018 voter-approved independent redistricting commission and criteria known as Proposition 4. She ordered that Prop 4’s anti-gerrymandering provisions must govern redistricting.

The newly formed 10-member Utah redistricting committee has two public meetings scheduled for the week of September 22, at which point there will be a 10-day pubic comment period before a vote on the maps during a special session on October 6. Then, the maps must be submitted to the court to determine whether the legislature did indeed follow Proposition 4’s criteria.