Utah

Utah Court Clears the Path for Appellate Review of Congressional Map Decision After No Appeal is Filed

By EditorJan 02, 20260 Comments

Third District Judge Dianna Gibson has issued a Rule 54(b) certification, specifically granting the Utah Legislature permission to immediately appeal her Aug. 25 ruling to the state Supreme Court. This specific ruling preliminarily voided Utah’s 2021 congressional map and blocked SB200, a law that repealed a 2018 voter-approved initiative (Proposition 4) designed to ban partisan gerrymandering. While Gibson agreed that the public interest is served by a faster resolution, she scolded the Legislature’s attorneys for failing to appeal sooner, noting they offered "no legitimate explanation" for ignoring previous opportunities to challenge her orders over the preceding four months. The outcome…

Partisan Gerrymanderinglawindepth, partisan gerrymandering, Utah

Utah Judge Chooses League of Women Voters’ Congressional Map, Rejects Legislature’s Plan

By EditorNov 14, 2025

A Utah trial court has selected a new congressional plan for the 2026 cycle, rejecting the Legislature’s October “Map C” and adopting the map offered by plaintiffs; the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government.” In a 90-page ruling issued just before the court’s November 10 deadline, Third District Judge Dianna M. Gibson found Map C to be an “extreme partisan outlier” drawn to favor Republicans and held that it failed to comply with the neutral criteria required by Utah’s voter-approved Proposition 4. Judge Gibson ordered Plaintiffs’ Map 1 (see below) to take effect in…

State Laws, UtahLatest, policyindepth, Utah

Utah Lawmakers Approve New Congressional Map Amid Renewed Court Scrutiny

By EditorOct 06, 2025

Utah’s Republican-led Legislature approved a new congressional map (“Option C”) during a special session on Monday Oct. 6, redrawing boundaries under a court order that barred the 2021 plan from use in 2026. The map, which splits Salt Lake County east–west, is projected to keep all four U.S. House districts leaning Republican while making one seat modestly more competitive. Lawmakers advanced the plan largely along party lines; it now heads into court review on a tight timetable, with election officials indicating new lines must be in place by Nov. 10. (The Salt Lake Tribune) On the same day, lawmakers passed,…

Redistricting, UtahLatest, Utah

Utah Legislators Review 5 Congressional Map Proposals

By EditorSep 23, 2025

Utah lawmakers have released five options for new congressional boundaries and are moving forward with a court-ordered overhaul of the state’s four U.S. House seats. This follows a recent ruling by Judge Dianna Gibson that the Legislature had improperly disregarded the redistricting standards established by Proposition 4 in 2018. Since the maps used since the 2022 election are now prohibited from being used in the 2026 election, the Legislative Redistricting Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the five proposals. The legislature must adopt a draft map by September 25, which will then undergo a 10-day public comment period and…

Enacting a Redistricting Map, UtahLatest, policyindepth, Utah

Utah Court Throws Out Congressional Map, Orders Redraw

By EditorAug 26, 2025

Utah’s redistricting fight reached a turning point on Monday, when Third District Court Judge Dianna Gibson ruled that lawmakers unconstitutionally repealed the voter‑approved Proposition 4 and ordered the Legislature to enact a remedial congressional map for the 2026 cycle. Proposition 4 passed narrowly by voters in 2018 and was branded “Better Boundaries.” Prop 4 created a seven-member independent redistricting commission and required maps to meet neutral criteria, including equal population, compactness/contiguity, maintaining cities and counties together, respecting communities of interest, and forbidding the drawing of districts to favor or disfavor a party or incumbent unduly. The Legislature could enact or…

Case Updates, State Laws, Utahcaseupdates, Latest, policyindepth, redistricting commissions, Utah

Utah Supreme Court Requests Additional Briefing in Partisan Gerrymandering Challenge

By EditorJul 19, 2023

The Utah Supreme Court seemed to be grappling with the issue of the citizen's right to initiative versus the legislature's right to enact laws. After oral argument in a case alleging that the 2021 congressional district map was a partisan gerrymander, (see League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature) the question arose of whether the legislature had the right to repeal a statute with anti-gerrymandering provisions (Proposition 4) - which it did in 2020. In October of last year, the trial court dismissed the claims regarding the Utah Legislature’s repeal of Proposition 4 but allowed the League's…

Case Updates, LATEST, LAW, NEWS, Partisan Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, State LawsIN-DEPTH, lawindepth, partisan gerrymandering, STATENEWS, Utah

Watch: Utah Supreme Court Oral Argument in Congressional Map Partisan Gerrymandering Case

By EditorJul 18, 2023

The Utah Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a partisan gerrymandering challenge to the state's 2021 congressional map. The case is League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature. Watch on YouTube. For news, litigation documents, district maps, and more information about Utah Redistricting, visit the Utah Redistricting Almanac Page. The Almanac home page for all 50 states is here. Find us on:

Case Updates, LAW, NEWS, Partisan Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, State Laws, VIDEOIN-DEPTH, lawindepth, litigation, partisan gerrymandering, Utah

16 States Join in Alabama’s Challenge to the Census Bureau’s Data Privacy Program

By EditorApr 14, 2021

On Monday, 16 states joined Alabama in deriding the U.S. Census Bureau's newly adapted data privacy policy (aka differential privacy) which uses statistical algorithms to distort raw census data before it is released to states and the public. The states who jointly filed as amici in Alabama's lawsuit against the Bureau are Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Utah. The amicus brief filed on behalf of these states lists three "major harms" caused by differential privacy. 1) local redistricting cannot be conducted with any reasonable accuracy; 2)…

Case Updates, Casedocs, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, LATEST, NEWS, RedistrictingAlabama, Alaska, arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, lawindepth, louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, STATENEWS, Texas, Utah, West Virginia

Navajo Lawsuit Against Off-Reservation Polling Places Survives Motion to Dismiss

By EditorJul 19, 2016

Utah - Residents of a Navajo reservation have filed suit against San Juan county election officials after polling places were closed in and around the reservation. While county voters may mail-in their ballots, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim that there is no "in-person" voting available on the reservation, and this interferes with the reservation inhabitant's voting rights. This week a judge denied the election officials' motion to dismiss. Read more in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Local Redistricting, Redistricting Race Ruleselection administration, Indian reservation, polling places, San Juan County, Utah