Signatures are needed from most of Utah’s 29 counties before Utah voters could decide whether to form an independent redistricting commission.
The issue could wind up on the 2010 ballot if roughly 95,000 signatures are collected. Initiative proponents say Utah’s heavily Republican state Legislature weakened the influence of other political parties when Summit County was spilt between two state Senate and House districts about 10 years ago.
Fair Boundaries suggests forming an 11-member, nonpartisan redistricting panel with no more than four members from the same political party.
“I think we need to have real representation in our state Legislature,” said Parkite Kathy Meyer, who signed the Fair Boundaries petition. “I think it would make the most sense to have somebody to represent the unique needs of a resort town.”
State Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, a Vernal Republican who represents Park City, lives more than 100 miles from the West Side of Summit County, Meyer said.
The Republican who represents eastern Summit County in the state Senate lives in North Ogden.
Fair Boundaries field director Glenn Wright said many Summit County residents signed the petition at Thursday’s event.
“We’re having a good morning here,” Wright said. “Lots of active people are coming in and I had to run out and get more petitions.”
Some people also took blank petitions to collect signatures, he said, adding that each sheet holds about 20 names.
“A guy came in from Henefer,” Wright said in an interview at the home on Little Kate Road. “Everybody who has come here is already sold.”
An independent panel could help oversee the statewide redistricting process on the heels of the 2010 census, Fair Boundaries spokeswoman Tania Knauer said.
“We’ve gotten rid of 40 petitions so far,” said Knauer in an interview at the open house. “The idea is to get these out to people in the community. We’re doing this throughout the entire state.”
Fair Boundaries was formed to take partisan politics out of redistricting, Knauer stressed.
“You just have a fair system to represent the voters, period,” she said.
Knauer said the group will gather signatures at farmers markets in the Park City area and shows sponsored by Mountain Town Music.
Summit County was divided by the Legislature a decade ago to serve the GOP. The local House district, for example, was sliced into two, sending some people who live on the West Side into District 25 in the Salt Lake Valley and placing others in District 53, which includes rural areas of Rich, Morgan, Wasatch and Daggett counties.
The Legislature redraws boundaries for state and federal elections every 10 years after the census. Fair Boundaries has until April to gather the signatures needed to place the initiative before voters the following November.