Democratic Party Asks Gov. HuntsmanTo Permit Legislative Debate on Redistricting Process

Salt Lake City, Utah – Wayne Holland, Chair of the Utah State Democratic Party, issued the following statement today regarding the proposed special legislative session for redistricting:

The Democratic Party agrees with Governor Huntsman that it is imperative that we come together and to gain a much needed and deserved fourth seat. In order for that to happen, Utah Democrats respectfully request that the Governor include on the Special Session Call the ability to modify the redistricting process.

Support of the Democratic Party for any map devised by the current process is contingent upon adopting standards for future redistricting to protect voters and community interests. Our clear preference is for an independent redistricting commission as presented by Rep. Roz McGee in 2005 HJR14 (click here). An unbalanced committee doing the job is just wrong. The majority need do nothing to build consensus. It is time for the legislature to take up this important debate and commit to changing this process that fails to serve the people of Utah.

The current system for redistricting in Utah uses guidelines designed to prevent possible court challenges rather than to serve the interests of the voters of Utah. This has the effect of creating "values-free" redistricting plans that maximize gains of those with the power to implement them and fail to take into account other legitimate community interests. We recognize that having standards may invite lawsuits. However, failure to enact standards to protect the community allows self-interest to be nearly the sole standard used by mapmakers.

Those traditional redistricting standards that we support include: redistricting once per decade after the decennial census, one person - one vote, utilize the most recent census data, districts that are contiguous and compact, do not retrogress the position of racial minorities, preserve communities of interest, respect political subdivisions, respect geographical boundaries, preserve the core of existing districts, minimize voter disruption, and respect voters choices as expressed in previous elections. Any map worthy of support, even from the current system, must meet these standards.

There should also be some criteria developed to protect racial minority populations consistent with the spirit of the Voting Rights Act. For example, there might be rules against packing or fracturing communities that have a high proportion of racial minorities. Or a rule to ensure that there is no retrogression in the ability of racial minorities to participate in the process and in electing representatives of their choice consistent with Beer v. United States. Our chief concern is that by looking only at single race demographics, the legislature has failed to protect Utah's racially minority communities that taken together have a strong political cohesion.

Another important criterion would be to minimize the disruption of current districts by preserving the cores of districts and protecting the historical continuity of voters with their districts and their chosen representatives. This protection of voters and their choices is critical to keep a process whereby the voters choose their representatives instead of representatives choosing their voters.

And, finally, there should be a standard about impermissible considerations. For instance, there could be a rule that districts shall be created so as to not to unduly favor or discriminate against any person or political party. Utah has adopted similar rules in the past.

The current redistricting process reduces the ability of voters to hold elected officials accountable and prevents "free trade" in the marketplace of ideas. Voters ought to choose their representatives instead of representatives choosing their voters. The political party in power should remain in power after elections if that's what the people want. But that outcome should not be pre-determined because of the process by which district boundaries are drawn. Let's have a balanced process in the drawing of district boundaries.