Who wouldn’t want fair elections? Who wouldn’t want representatives who reflected their views? Who wouldn’t want a government that works for its constituents? Well, that is the goal behind Proposition 4, a citizen-led initiative that seeks to end gerrymandering in Utah.
Our current district boundaries in Utah have been drawn not to reflect the views of the voters, but to assure continued power of our elected officials. This inequality was not done for the benefit of Utah’s residents, but was created to ensure the control over Utah politics.
Now ask yourself, why would anybody oppose the drawing of fair boundaries? What would be their motivation to continue the unfair status quo? Power!
One who has total authority is very likely to abuse that position; this phrase was used by the British historian Lord Acton: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” If there are not citizen checks on the power of our politicians, their power becomes detrimental to democracy. We have seen this happen in Utah, time and time again.
Please vote “yes” for Proposition 4; please vote for a fair and representative government. Let’s end gerrymandering; let’s create fair districts; let’s fix this.
Iris J. Nielsen, North Logan