This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In the popular Broadway musical "Hamilton," Aaron Burr, who has been excluded from important political decisions, sings, "No one really knows how the game is played. The art of the trade, how the sausage gets made. We just assume that it happens. But no one else is in the room where it happens."
When it comes to redistricting of legislative and congressional districts, which happens every decade, absolutely no one except Republican leaders are in the room where initial decisions happen. There is never an independent or a Democrat in the room where the sausage and art of the trade are happening. After initial, closed door discussions, a legislative (only legislators) redistricting committee with a few Democrats is consulted. Essentially, our representatives are selecting their voters by the way they draw district boundaries.
The result? Utah's four congressional seats are solidly in the hands of Republicans and likely to remain so. Approximately 83 percent of the Utah Legislature is Republican, although they typically constitute only 67-70 percent of the electorate. Democrats hold only 17 percent of state legislative seats, when they should be capturing about 30 percent. Redistricting decisions directly affect which party is likely to win in the state's legislative districts. Only a few legislative districts are competitive, and no congressional district in Utah is truly competitive.
That means many citizens feel totally shut out. They want true representation that gives them confidence in their federal and state government. The current gerrymandering of election districts has resulted in one-party monopolies across Utah on federal, state and local levels. In 2017, there will be no representation of any Democrats in the Utah Legislature outside of Salt Lake County.
As George Pyle wrote in the Tribune on Nov. 27, "Which makes the whole election process dull and unattractive to voters and potential candidates alike."
If there is one-party dominance, compromise on important issues becomes unlikely. Republicans with strident ideologies have been capturing more than their fair share of Utah's state and federal legislative districts, yet polls that reflect Utah's major concerns such as education, health and land issues are not represented by these extreme political philosophies.
There is a solution that can open the doors to the room where this cornerstone decision on redistricting happens. Utah needs an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission. This decision is too important to be controlled every decennial by the leaders of any one dominant party (in Utah, Republicans in recent decades).
An independent redistricting commission is not a new idea. Six states currently have independent commissions with primary responsibility for drawing district lines, five states have advisory commissions, six states have lawsuits pending which challenge their state's redistricting plan on racial or partisan grounds. Five other states have reform efforts underway.
In recent years, bills have been introduced in the Utah Legislature which would alter the current redistricting responsibilities. The more progressive bills would create an independent redistricting commission that would have responsibility to give specific, very public redistricting recommendations to the Utah Legislature. No bill has made it out of committee.
A potentially transformative federal court decision in Wisconsin ruled just last month that Wisconsin's 2011 redistricting was unconstitutional. The decision specified how courts could measure (quantify) whether gerrymandering indicated manipulative, unacceptably partisan boundaries. This case will eventually move to the U.S. Supreme Court and deserves careful attention.
The Utah Citizens' Counsel, an independent, non-partisan group of senior community advocates dedicated to improving public policy, strongly supports a change to Utah's current redistricting process. One party alone should not be making critical redistricting decisions. The public needs better representation at the table. An independent redistricting commission should be in the room where it happens.
Sheryl Allen is a former Republican state legislator. Cheryll May is a former political science professor.