Letter to the Editor: Proposition 4 will ensure the best interest of voters, not politicians

Stock image, St. George News

OPINION — This November, Utah voters will have an historic opportunity to make Utah’s voting process more fair.

Passing Proposition 4 will stop Utah from being the seventh most gerrymandered state in the nation and will ensure that Utah’s voting process serves the best interests of voters, not politicians.

Read more: System to redraw Utah districts meets ballot threshold

Currently the voting district boundaries are drawn by the politicians in office. On this year’s ballot, Propositon 4 calls for a new voter redistricting process.

It begins by the governor and state legislative leaders appointing a seven-member, bipartisan, independent commission to recommend district boundaries. Two of the appointed commissioners must be unaffiliated with state political parties.

The commission will meet publicly in different areas of the state to gather input. Five of the seven commission members will have to favor a new redistricting map for it to be sent to lawmakers for passage. If the commission’s proposal is rejected, lawmakers must produce a written explanation for their denial.

Better Boundaries, the organization that gathered the signatures to put Proposition 4 on the ballot, states “When politicians can draw their own districts for their own self-interest, they create noncompetitive races that harms our communities.”

If Proposition 4 passes it will allow Utah to join 17 other states that have enacted redistricting reform to insure voting is a more democratic process.

We want all votes to count. Please vote for Proposition 4 this November!

Submitted by ARLENE BRAITHWAITE, Cedar City.

Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or news contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them. They do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting.

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Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or news contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them. They do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting.

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3 Comments

  • iceplant October 8, 2018 at 1:38 pm

    Gerrymandering is a way for BOTH parties to cheat. What’s funny is that Republicans seem to shoulder the blame on this when Dems are just as guilty. These are among the reasons that I remain an unaffiliated independent voter. Neither majority party is innocent when it comes to gerrymandering. They just like to play the victim/blame game up to their bases.

  • Pheo October 8, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    Dems are not equally guilty of this. It is true that Democrats started this mess by gerrymandering districts to get more minority representation in some districts. But the Republican advantage is obvious when you seen that they are winning 55% of the House seats with 49% of the vote. In Utah, Republicans get 100% of the seats with 70% of the vote. They do this by splitting Democratic leaning areas, like Salt Lake County (split three ways). And yes, it would be equally bad if Democrats were doing it.

    Bottom line: Politicians should not be allowed to choose their own voters.

  • WaitingForAMadManInABlueBox October 9, 2018 at 10:34 am

    I think this is set up as fairly as it could be. I’m voting yes.

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