No matter your background or zip code, voters want to be able to choose their own elected officials instead of the other way around. This sentiment was expressed in an op-ed that husband-wife duo Malcolm and Vicki Reid wrote for The Deseret News about how the gerrymandered congressional map undermines the will of voters to lock in power for an entire decade.
Malcolm, a Democratic voter, and Vicki, a Republican voter, oppose Utah’s congressional map and agreed to be plaintiffs in the lawsuit Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed earlier this month because this map constitutes an extreme partisan gerrymander and would make it harder for Utah voters to make themselves heard in our democracy.
The op-ed also describes how the legislature ignored maps produced by Utah’s independent redistricting commission — which used a fair, transparent process — and instead drew maps behind closed doors that sliced and diced Salt Lake County’s residents among the state’s four congressional districts to dilute their voting power.
Utahns deserve to live under fair maps where communities remain intact and where voters have an equal voice.