Last week both the Summit County and Utah State GOP chairmen pledged support for fair redistricting. Glenn Wright, Summit County Democratic Party Chairman, said the “proof will be in the pudding.”

The redistricting process to redraw both U.S. and state House and Senate districts is required every 10 years once U.S. Census data is released.

The Utah Senate President and House Speaker will “right away” appoint a committee to create proposals, which will be voted upon by a special session of the Legislature this fall, explained John Cannon, managing policy analyst for the Legislature.

In an interview with The Park Record, Wright said there are reasons to be hopeful. The gerrymandering that occurred last time was labeled by some national media as among the worst in the county. This year, the Republicans are feeling optimistic and have nothing to gain by pushing through a blatantly partisan plan, Wright said.

On the other hand, by the time a redistricting plan makes it through the process, it gets heavily influenced by sitting Legislators. A decade ago, Wright says David Ure was influential in redrawing District 25 to protect his chances of winning District 53. Now that Rep. Mel Brown, R-Coalville, has a leadership position, he may want to continue to protect the Republican majority in 53.

Since fairness is in the eye of the beholder, Wright offers his own definition.

Fair Boundaries Initiative

Last year, the Fair Boundaries Initiative petition drive failed to gather enough signatures to influence the process. It would have encouraged Senate and House districts to be drawn according to existing government boundaries. When possible, school districts, towns, cities and counties should be in one legislative district.

Since Summit County is too big to fit in one House District, 25 and 53 should be at least drawn according to school district boundaries, Wright proposed.

Wright also questions, “Why should Summit County be in two senate districts?”

Currently, a small portion of the East Side of Summit County falls in Senate District 19, while the bulk of the county is lumped into 26.

For U.S. congressional districts, Salt Lake County has to be in two, but Salt Lake City should only be in one, he said.

Using existing government boundaries is nonpartisan, Wright said.

Another way to be nonpartisan is to use objective methods. The Utah Democratic Party is currently trying to raise $12,000 to pay a university to use a computer program to draw up a totally objective proposal.

Sensible shapes

Squiggly lines are a sure sign of gerrymandering, Wright said.

The streets in Utah’s four most populous counties (Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah) are laid out on the grid system. Sensible districts in those counties should therefore be mostly squares and rectangles.

Allow ‘toss-up’ districts

There are only a handful of cities and counties with Democrat majorities. Utah is a red state, Wright said.

“Fair redistricting is not going to make this a Democratic state,” he said.

In fact, Wright said his party has been notified that due to changes in demographics, they are likely to lose several seats in the Legislature.

So fairness should leave a 50-50 partisan split where it exists, he said. If a community is split, then either party should have a fair shot at representing it.

Summit County is between 52- to 56-percent Democratic. That means a strong GOP candidate, like Ure or Brown, has just as good a shot at winning as a Democrat, he said.

Keep the capital together

Because most Utah counties are strongly Republican, there is no need to cut up Salt Lake City into different Congressional districts, he said. Splitting it won’t ever create toss-up districts, it just makes GOP supermajorities.

Unless Salt Lake City stays intact in a Congressional district, there is no way to “fairly” draw four districts. Each will have a Republican super majority, Wright said.

The hasty decision last session to push through House Bill 477 restricting the public’s access to public records is evidence of what happens in governments elected by super majorities, Wright added.

Allow more of the Basin into 25

Because of a shift in demographics, House District 25 has shrunk and will need to be expanded. It will have to include more of Salt Lake County, or more of Summit County. If it expands eastward, Wright believes there’s a chance a Summit County resident could win that seat.

Get involved this summer

The Utah Legislature is currently accepting bids to create an online software that would allow anyone, including the public, to draw a map and suggest it to the redistricting committee. Cannon said it should be ready by summer if not earlier. Visit www.le.utah.gov to learn more.