This map cuts up the Salt Lake Valley with the hopes that it won't be represented in the legislature. This is not how districting should work, please listen to the commission that we voted for and use the UIRC map.

It makes no sense demographically, economically, or geographically to split the Salt Lake City metro four ways like this map does. This is also a slap in the face to the citizens of Utah, who passed Prop 4. Shame on the legislature.

What Kind of proposal is this any of the UIRC are better in terms of communities and population deviation.

As a resident of St. George and a former resident of Salt Lake City, I can tell you that the needs and interests of living in the two areas are vastly different. We have serious resource issues in Southern Utah that don't apply to folks living along the Wasatch Front. The legislature has an obligation to ALL the residents in the state and fair representation is the most important obligation of all. Please use the maps recommended by the independent committee and knock off the partisan gerrymandering. I am an independent voter.

Splitting this way is intentionally taking the power of vote away from anyone who is not Republican. The state should follow the independent redistricting committees suggestion. Your job is to represent the people of this state fairly and you are instead trampling on their rights to a fair process.

This map is such a disspointing display of blatant gerrymandering. Please, for the sake of reasonable representation for Salt Lake City and rural communities, use a map drawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission. The people of Salt Lake City deserve to have their voices heard, and rural communities deserve representation from someone beyond the Wasatch Front.

State legislators should not overturn the will of the people in passing Prop 4. The majority of Utahns voted to form and listen to the Independent redistricting Commission. They proceeded with their work in an apolitical and sound manner. The Commission's recommendations and the will of the people should be heeded. Votes must choose their politicians, not the other way around.

Why is the state demographic about 1/3 democrat, but this map gives them no seats? This seems very unfair and gerrymandered.

Please respect the people you represent and their wishes for fair representation by using the maps provided by the Independent Redistricting Commission. This proposal clearly goes against the desires of the people of the State of Utah whom the legislature is supposed to fairly represent.

I believe the ethically & morally correct thing to do is to follow the maps developed by the independent commission. Do this one part of your job correctly.

Utahns voted for fair representation. The Utah Independent Redistricting Commission made recommendations which the Utah Legislature is ignoring with a map that gives voice to rural Utah and silences Salt Lake City. You have denied my right to representation in a "democracy" I have three sons who live within 20 blocks of me. We are divided into three legislative districts. Shame on you. Government which represents "we the people," all the people is truly what made our democracy great. This map represents petty self-interest and a cynical twist on democracy. I am old enough to remember when Utah politicians honored the two party system.

The legislature should follow the Independent Redistricting Committee's recommendations. The fact that someone in Beaver, Fillmore, or Blanding is in the same district as me a block away from Temple Square is ridiculous. Sacrificing the needs of rural Utahns in an attempt to gut Salt Lake County for Republican control is immoral.

Add this map to the long list times the Utah Leg has failed to do the work asked of them. In what other profession would such insubordination be tolerated? It's ALMOST as though they ACTUALLY work for their rich buddies instead of people of the Utah. Disgraceful.

This is gerrymandering. Please respect our votes and the spirit of the law of democracy. You know this is wrong in your heart of hearts. This type of behavior is very unbecoming of democratic leadership and will not yield good fruits in the near and distant future.

As a resident of Salt Lake County, I implore you to follow the independent commission's recommendations. This map is a travesty to equal representation that we Americans should be afforded and have the rights to.

What is the legislature afraid of? Being accountable to the people? Of an Independent Commission that did its job? Or of losing power? The map for district 2 is designed to do one thing: Keep Chris Stewart in power. Why am I, who lives in Bountiful, in the same district as my mother who lives 300 miles away in Hurricane? Please use the Independent Redistricting Commission maps. Why go through the sham of creating a commission only to ignore its work?

I am an independent voter who believes in fair, nonpartisan district mapping. I object to gerrymandering by either party, since it corrupts elections that are fundamental to good government. The Independent Commission executed a thorough, nonpartisan and transparent mapping process, informed by extensive public feedback. Their maps adhere to prespecified criteria required by state statute, and reflect constituent preferences for districting. External evaluation confirmed these maps to be fair and nonpartisan. The Legislative Redistricting Committee maps shamefully ignore the painstaking work of the Commission. They are politically driven and do not meet the specified criteria. They revert to the slicing and dicing of Salt Lake County and other communities of interest to ensure that minority party voices are diluted. If the Legislature ignores the Independent Commission and approves gerrymandered maps, it will be an abuse of power and a slap in the face to voters who mandated change.

This is not representative of the maps put forth by the independent committee that was voted on by the people of Utah and should not be considered as a potential option.

It's irresponsible to throw such a variety of constituents into the same Congressional District. The needs of rural Utahns shouldn't compete with the needs of urban Utahns. This map doesn't lend voice to all Utahns, it mutes the many in the interest of what?

Just what you would expect from Utah politicians. For once do what is right and use the maps from the independent commission.

As a resident of Salt Lake County, it is discouraging that the County has been divided into 4 districts. This completely dilutes the vote that the County, which has more democratic leanings than the rest of the state, would have. I urge the Utah legislature to return to the Independent Redistricting Commission's recommendations, which were established to fairly represent all Utahns.

It's clear our politicians in Utah are enemies of the people. Republicans continually going against the will of the people to further their agenda. Gerrymandering this brazenly should be shut down immediately. History will not be kind to the hypocritical and selfish.

It is undemocratic to go against the independent redistricting committee that a majority of Utah voters supported. Splitting the map this way harms the voices of people in Salt Lake County, and is only drawn this way to benefit a political party.

The legislature must follow the commission's recommendations; the gerrymandering on the legislature's current proposal is ridiculous and undemocratic.

This map feels insanely gerrymandered; why are residents of Sugar House sharing a representative with the residents of Beaver? This pinwheeling of Salt Lake City shows a disregard for democracy. Lines are drawn across neighborhoods to silence your constituents. Please use maps drawn by the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission like we voted for in 2018.

It's clear the people in charge of Utah are no longer interested in representative democracy, but enforcing a perpetual one-party state. I would remind them that that never ends well, as well as the fact that this nation was founded partially around "No taxation without representation." I wonder how the state would feel if the entirety of Salt Lake County were to simply stop paying taxes. Because, certainly, we (and any non-R voters statewide) are blatantly being denied representation.

The legislature's choice to completely ignore the independent redistricting commission and blatantly gerrymander these boundaries is absolutely insulting to those of us who value fairness and a functioning democracy. The obvious attempt to dilute the voices of Salt Lake City voters is as shameful as it is unsurprising, given our legislature's history of ignoring the will of the people whenever they so choose.

I am trying to avoid just making a snarky comment and actually say something substantial, but that is hard to do given the lack of substance in this map. Davis school district is split into two congressional districts? How does that help anyone? This is even more egregious in creating a new “four corners of the North” in the middle of Salt Lake. This map is useful for one thing: demonstrating the unfitness of congressional leaders by showing they do not care to actually provide representation to those the have been elected to serve as well as demonstrating they cannot properly manage taxpayer funds as they have wasted the resources and efforts of the citizen mandated independent commission.

Once again, my Congressional district has been severely gerrymandered and my community will lack proper representation. RESPECT the voters from across the entire state who voted the UIRC into existence and who want us all to be fairly represented. These maps blatantly dismiss the peoples' input into the redistricting process.

This district map gives no regard to demographics found within the Salt Lake Valley, it only serves to dilute the voices of the people residing there.

I ask you to please consider accepting the maps of the independent redistricting commission instead. Please don't gerrymander. It isn't fair to put the bulk of the population of Utah into one district and thus not give them a fair voice in our legislature.

The maps of the UIRD better represent what Utah voters want than the proposed maps from the legislature. Why don't you use the maps of the UIRD?

The legislature's proposed maps are both gerrymandered in an obvious way to favor the majority party. They are clearly unfair and even more clearly inferior to the maps recommended by the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission. The UIRC maps represent many more hours of public input from a much wider segment of the various populations that live in Utah. These maps should be adopted instead of the hastily drawn and unfair maps suggested by the Utah House and Senate. Respect the electoral results of Prop 4 by doing the right thing!

These boundaries ignore recommendations from the independent redistricting committee and are obviously created to favor Republicans.

The logic that a Government Rep has to represent both urban and rural doesn't make sense. Nobody expects this of any other politicians in other states. Nobody expects rural representatives to be forced to represent some urban areas too. USA's democracy is broken. There's no fixing this. This comment will go on deaf ears. Nothing matters anymore.

What a waste of time and taxpayer money for this gerrymandered atrocity. All you are doing is continuing the political shenanigans and outrage that is dividing this country and the people. Disgusting and reprehensible. We knew this would be a sham from the beginning and you delivered.

This map seems to blatantly ignore what Utahns asked for in favor of what one party's leadership[ wants to that they may stay in power. Please abide by the decisions that we legally voted for.

These new gerrymandered district lines are not representative of what most constituents expect from their elected officials. How are you going to divide Salt Lake into four districts with other parts of the state that don’t understand what SLC needs because they’re 5 hours south. I am truly disturbed that the GOP has done this with our state, it makes me want to just leave this unfair state. The state is trying to suppress the voters in SLC so our liberal votes don’t count and they can continue to rule this state without democrat interference. As Utah suppresses liberal votes, they claim fraud in the president election and other state elections. YOU CANT HAVE BOTH GQP!

Please follow the recommendations of the independent commission. This map disenfranchises so many Utahns but especially minorities. Salt Lake County shouldn’t be split four ways nor should so many individual cities be split apart. Be better!

Please do away with this unfair and archaic process of gerrymandering. In a democracy, everybody's voice should be respected and honored. This map fails on that front by effectively erasing the voices of all the Utahns in Salt Lake County regardless of their political affiliation. This map is malicious, anti-American, and undemocratic. As your constituent, I implore you to instead use the maps created by the Independent Redistricting Commission to ensure that every Utahn's voice is heard.

Blatant gerrymandering. Garbage map. I want elected officials who are responsive to the people, and this map will not do that. The corruption being displayed by this map is obvious. We voted for an independent redistributing, not this partisan garbage.

I voted to have an independent commission make recommendations for redistricting. I have confidence that an independent commission will listen to what we, the voters, want in terms of representation. Because this proposed map once again divides up Salt Lake County into all four districts, the legislative committee has failed to listen to the voters and what we want. This map does irreparable damage to the residents of Salt Lake County by denying us the right to direct and undiluted representation.

This map is unfairly partisan and being implemented by a small group of legislatures who only care about a tiny portion of the population. I live in SLC and my close neighbors who are part of the same community, who attend the same elementary school as in my school district and are in the same zip code, are being delegated to different congressional districts because of the partisan legislatures. The voters were clear in their intend and the legislature ignore them. Shame on the legislatures. Lets vote them out!

In the 2020 election 37.6% of Utah voters voted for Biden, 30.3% for Peterson (democrat for Utah governor), and 30.4%, 36.6%, 26.8% and 46.7% for democrats in the four U.S. House races, an average of 35%. Utahns voted for the independent redistricting committee. Utah Democrats have ZERO representation in the federal government and are underrepresented at the state level because of gerrymandering in 2010. Do not be peer pressured to continue this transparently and blatantly self-serving failure to fairly represent Utahns. Whatever happened to honest, principled integrity? You shame yourself if you vote for this kind of distribution.

This map does not suit our needs. Good maps were suggested by an independent commission and should be followed.

As a 25+ year resident of rural Utah (currently Carbon County, past Iron County, property owner in Garfield County) I'm am very disappointed by this map because it does not give rural Utahs the representation that is claims. Using the urban/rural split in every district only ensures that all representative come from the urban corner of their district, as all currently do and have since I moved to rural Utah. Our current representative, John Curtis, does fine representing his home town of Provo, but was lacking in understanding rural issue when developing the Emery County Wilderness act. It's past time for rural UT to have a representative who is actually from rural Utah and has a personal stake in rural issues! I want to urge the redistricting committee to follow the will of the people and support one of maps from the Independent redistricting committee that includes an actual rural district. Rural Utah deserves representation!

We are weary of the people's voice being disregarded. Use the commission's recommendation and stop behaving so irresponsibly. It is an embarrassment to the State of Utah, which should be setting a better example.

This map is a travesty. How stupid do they think the people of Utah are? How can it be called anything but a blatant gerrymandering attempt? Salt Lake City split into all four districts - really? And don't speak to me of some made-up, nonsensical need for some metropolitan/rural combination being needed to be "fair" - it's about dilution of the minority's base and unfair maintenance of Republican power, and the backers of this map know it. And speaking of this made-up "need" for metro/rural balance, the attempt by Bishop with his resignation from the Independent Redistricting Commission to create false controversy around their excellent work immediately before this process is as transparent as it is disgusting. As a supporter of proposition 4, and as a Utahn, I'm gravely insulted, as yet again the legislature seeks to annul the voice of the people and their voter initiatives. Every last legislator who supports this clearly corrupt version of redistricting deserves to be voted out - and rest assured I and many more will be seeking to do exactly that. I appeal to any legislators that are men and women of conscience to obey the will of the people, and adopt the recommendations of the IRC instead.

People deserve to be properly represented so that they specific concerns can be addressed. Rural and Urban areas have different needs and should be represented by different individuals. Rural Utah needs representation that is different than urban centers. It doesn't make sense to split urban centers up to distributed the regions to rural areas. Davis county should be keep together. As is it Centerville, Bountiful, Wood Cross and part of Salt lake are in the same district as southern utah including St. George. This makes no sense. southern Utah deserves to be represented by someone from southern Utah. Salt Lake City might be need to split into two districts, but four districts is clearly bias.

This blatant gerrymandering is a total sham to enforce a chokehold of power to prevent any non-white, non-Republicans from having any representation in Congress. This is totally unconstitutional and a stain on the Utah congress to ignore Prop 4 and the will of the people.

Utah voters approved an initiative to create an independent redistricting committee. The Committee has done great work and produced maps that meet the standards for fair maps. The maps proposed by the legislature ignore the hard work done by the independent committee. The congressional map proposed by the legislature is a clear example of partisan gerrymandering. There is no good reason to split salt lake county into four congressional districts. This is a classic example of "splitting" a strategy used to dilute the power of the majority parties' political adversaries. The talk of "urban-rural mix" is a transparent excuse to pursue partisan power for republicans. In the Utah state legislature, we do not require that each state house district contain a mix of urban and rural areas, this is not a standard that leads to more diverse or effective representation.

This map is not significantly different from the current gerrymandered map that gave us four Republican representatives in a State that is not a single party State. Or is Utah now part of China. If the maps developed by the independent commission are not used, then I will consider myself not represented and will begin looking for another State for retirement.

I live, work, and go to university in different districts. Stop diluting my voice.

Any map not approved the UIRC should be vetoed by Gov Cox. Let's make sure he knows.

This is patently ridiculous and those that proposed it should be ashamed of themselves.

This map is ridiculous. Instead of doing things to keep or earn votes fairly, our legislation would rather cheat through gerrymandering. If you support this map, why don’t you drop the act of doing what your constituents want. Utahns want fair and objective districting, we told you with our votes, why won’t you listen?

The people voted for an independent commission. Please respect the wishes of the people and use maps created by the commission.

Please use the maps created by the Independent Redistricting Commission instead of continuing the obvious and unfair gerrymandered maps here.

The people of Utah voted to stop gerrymandering in 2018, the fact that Republicans found some “legal” to ignore UT voters reduces faith in democracy. The legislature proposed maps are clearly and obviously designed solely to benefit Republicans (how can any rational person defend breaking SL county in 4 pieces? If Republicans are afraid of urban voters maybe try to convince us to vote for you rather than designing maps that allow you to ignore us) Please honor our 2018 decision and use one of the IRC maps!

"In 2018, over a half of a million Utahns voted to establish an independent redistricting commission that serves the interests of all Utahns. As fair-minded Utahns who value accountability and transparency in our political process and state government, we strongly urge the Utah State Legislature to formally adopt and implement the people's maps soon to be submitted to the Legislative Redistricting Committee by the nonpartisan Independent Redistricting Commission. The Independent Redistricting Commission's process has been open, transparent, and accountable. Thousands of maps have been submitted by the public and numerous opportunities for public comment have been made available. The maps developed by the Commission represent the culmination of years-long work with extensive community input and buy in. Perhaps most importantly, these maps take no preference to partisan gerrymandering, but rather keep our counties, cities, and communities intact, which Utahns overwhelmingly support. The Utah State Legislature should adopt maps that respect the voices of all Utahns." - Better Boundaries

Over half a million Utahns voted for the UIRC. Their maps are extremely popular and none of the legislative committees maps come close to being as fair. Please chose to listen to the voice of the people and to pick districts that are fair for ALL Utahns! These proposed maps dilute the voice of all Utahns. Urban and rural alike!

What a waste of time and taxpayer money for this gerrymandered atrocity. All you are doing is continuing the political shenanigans and outrage that is dividing this country and the people. Disgusting and reprehensible. We knew this would be a sham from the beginning and you delivered.

Slimy, Crooked, Swamp Creatures! At least try to look objective. Have a little decency and honor and at least pretend that you value the principles of a real democracy and equal representation!

My understanding of this proposed map split Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County. Splitting the city and the county into multiple districts do not allow for proper representation of the citizenry.

Is this map a joke? How could anyone support such a blatant attempt to gerrymander our congressional districts? Even suggesting this map is an outrage and is disdainful for the voters of Utah and for representative democracy in general. This is nothing short of shameful.

You have an opportunity to follow an independent commission's fair approach to map-making. Please select the map provided by the commission. You have an opportunity to provide fairness to the State of Utah, or to fan the flames of extremism and vitriol by gerrymandering maps. Attempts to silence opposition, or to gerrymander maps will only heighten the rage and political discord in this country, which I cannot imagine being worse. For the freedom of all, and the safety of our nation, please represent the values this nation was founded upon and select a map submitted by the independent redistricting commission.

Incredibly transparent and unfair gerrymandering. It's ridiculous I can walk 50 feet from my house and be in the same district as Moad, and drive for less than 5 and be in the same district as St. George. Please use the independent commissions map to keep our elections and representation fair!

This map violates every principle of good legislative map drawing. It does not keep communities of interest together, it does not respect city and county boundaries, and it does not respect natural geography. All three of the commission maps do follow those principles and those are the maps that the people of Utah want the legislature to be considering.

The voters spoke clearly when they passed the ballot initiative. I'm tired of not having the representation in congress that we all deserve in a democracy. I implore you to follow the bipartisan map from the commission.

There is only one possible reason SL County needs to be divided: to ensure Republican victories. This is corruption, full-stop. Life in a one-party red state...

This is not the solution. I implore the legislature to look at a more fair and balanced way of representing the actual interests of the people of Utah. Better Boundaries has used quantitative and qualitative data to propose districts and I would urge the legislature to do the same.

How do I POSSIBLY have aligned interests sufficient to share representation with rural Utah? I see that the gerrymandering is in full force yet again despite the will of the people to set up an independent districting commission. This map is a dishonest attempt at stacking congressional seats.

Even Domo has billboards poking fun at the horrible districting in Utah, this is ridiculous.

My grocery store and farmers market are in another district and my doctor is in yet a different district and my best friend lives in another one. I know you've got to draw the line somewhere, but this map reeks of blatant manipulation in an attempt to exclude Democrats from being represented.

Didn't think it possible you guys could come up with an even more skewed representation for Millcreek and the Salt Lake Valley. 53% of us are Democrats. Yet you've carved this thing up so badly that it insures no Democrat will ever win another election (gasp -- I wonder if that was your goal -- duh). The liberal voices in Salt Lake County will have NO REPRESENTATION in Washington DC. Where is our voice!? Congrats guys, you've managed to screw the voters once again. BOO!

This proposed map will make our elected representatives to Congress unable to do their job effectively. By making the densely populated areas of Salt Lake City part rural districts in the far corners of the state, our representatives have too disparate and varied interests to represent. It would be much more fair to the voters and elected officials to divide the state into 2 densely populated districts and 2 rural districts.

The setup of these districts is insane. Gerrymandering is NOT the goal, and if it is then our representation is most certainly not representative of anything but their own desire for a political position. You should be deeply, deeply ashamed of yourselves.

Please follow the recommendation of the independent commission. You will be hurting all Utahns otherwise.

This is absolutely a blatant attempt to silence liberal voices, suppress democracy, and continue the practice of gerrymandering. The fact that we had to fight to get any attention for this issue through petitions, ballot initiatives, and then be blocked once again by congressional leaders who clearly seek to perpetuate their conservative political agenda is ridiculous. This has been in the works for at least four years and this is the result. This is an insult. This map absolutely needs to be disqualified. An honest map should not attempt to break up communities that are densely populated and rapidly changing and pair them with remote areas hundreds of miles away that could not be more dissimilar. I pay taxes and should have a voice and honest representation to discuss the profoundly negative impacts of the ever increasing population growth as well as the impact upon my daily life and the longterm impact on our natural resources, namely water. Stop this and get rid of this map.

This district map is absurd. Utah legislators don't want voters to have a voice.

I live in Cottonwood Heights and do not share the same interests or needs of residents living in rural communities hundreds of miles from my community. Your blatant disregard for our unique needs and concerns is disheartening.

What is even happening here?? This is blatant gerrymandering and quite frankly it’s incredibly insulting to every Utahn. How on earth are the interests of my community the same as the interests of, uh, ALL OF SOUTHERN UTAH ?? This makes no sense and it is clearly being done in the interests of a political party who is afraid to lose control. Anybody that says this map is in the interest of the citizens of Utah is lying to themselves and to everyone else. It’s time to be fair and honest and let the people be fairly represented!

This is a slap in the face to everyone in this state. Period.

The idea that rural Utah is represented by cracking Salt Lake County is ludicrous. I have more in common with those in Sanpete County than those in Salt Lake City. And yet, to achieve a partisan outcome, you are using a post-hoc justification to defend an extreme partisan gerrymander. One of the commission's maps does an objectively job at keeping communities together AND has a lower urban/rural split. If that is your primary concern, adopt that map (or a version of it.) An urban rural mix can be achieved without an egregious gerrymander.

This map does not represent the urban population in volume and equates its effective voice to those of smaller more rural areas; this is not fair or equitable representation! This is somehow worse than the current districting! You need to have the independent review board create the map, I am very disappointed, you need to listen to the people and try again!

What' with this little carved out neighborhood. Why are they being singled out? What do these good people have/need that District 2 must take and district 4 doesn't want?

It is disappointing to see the UIRC's proposals and efforts potentially neglected when it is what the citizens voted for. Where is the transparency and accountability for this proposal?

It's clear that this maps intent is to avoid even the slightest chance of Salt Lake electing their own representation. Rural communities should not take precedence over our most populated area, and to say that it was the intent is insulting.

I am the great-grand-niece of Pres. Heber J. Grant, who had a great empathy for the people of Utah. He was probably more zealous in sharing his political views than it was called for but those were different times and he had zeal. I personally, am an Independent and pick and choose issues I support from both sides of the aisle, as well as an independent party system for a better Utah and U.S.A. Above all, I support democracy and that the will of the people be heard and respected. I am LDS and white but do not support fat cats in legislature that over-ride the will of the people. I was indignant after the passing of Prop 2 - for medical marijuana, when the legislature amended it many times until it not longer was the original measure that was passed. It does not matter what my will is or any particular legislator, this defied the will of the majority vote. For that reason and others, I defy the validity of this redistricting map As my late physician father would say, "Repent Sirs, or be lost in the dust." And I add, "Do not make this Deceit your Legacy."

What an ugly, despicable map, totally at odds with what voters wanted when they voted for and passed prop 4. It's an arrogant display of partisan gerrymandering and an insult to anyone who believes in fair representation in government. You should be ashamed, but I know you won't be. You do have communities of interest: Republicans, white men, Mormons, corporations and developers. If you were to ever stop to consider why you are so reviled and ridiculed each year, and why we remain so polarized as a democratic society, just go look in the mirror and you'll see the author of it all. Shame, shame, shame.

The proposed map for the 4 congressional districts does not reflect the will of the people of Utah. We voted in 2018 to adopt prop 4, which allowed the INDEPENDENT analysis and input for redistricting our congressional maps. Cutting Salt Lake County into fourths is clearly meant to protect the Republican Party, not reflect the will of the citizens. No new map should be adopted . We spent months commenting and working with the committee to get fair maps. I plan to donate for the lawsuit that will certainly be forthcoming.

I imploring the legislature to follow the Commission's recommendations. I would like to ask the legislature why it doesn't want people to have a say in who represents them. I demand the right to fair representation. Anything else is not only un-Democratic but also un-Republican.

I am tired of having my views and opinions disregarded by the blatant corruption of the Utah legislature. Under these proposed maps, I will continue to have no representation in congress. Do better.

The people that live in Northern Utah and the people that live in downtown Salt Lake have different priorities and expectations, and should be represented accordingly. However, this redistricting clearly shows that the elected officials, whose duty to serve the common good of the people do not care whatsoever. I understand that gerrymandering is deeply ingrained in the GOP repertoire, but by some miracle, the redistricting committee decides to make boundaries that actually represent the will of the people, I will be amazed. I cannot wait to leave this State, the blatant corruption, and disregard to the people that live here is crazy. Again, congratulations on governing tactics that only support the GOP self interests. I love not being represented (that was sarcasm).

The Utah Independent Redistricting Commission took input from all over the state and carefully crafted maps that keep communities of interest together, allowing the people to choose leaders who represent them. Then corrupt politicians ignored all that work, gave a giant middle finger to the majority of Utahns who voted for Prop 4, and chopped up our communities to draw gerrymandered lines that will insulate themselves from accountability and further contribute to the dysfunction of our government.

I would like to say that I like my current representative John Curtis. However, I dislike that my city (Millcreek) and neighborhood (Olympus Hills) is split up. More care should have been made to keep cities and neighbors in the same district. I much preferred the boundaries proposed by the independent redistricting group.

PLEASE accept and adopt the boundaries proposed by the UIRC. It is disappointing, but not surprising, to see that the will of the majority of Utahns is being blatantly ignored by disregarding the findings and proposals of an independent commission. Once again we have anti-democratic gerrymandering that is making the people of Utah voiceless and is concentrating power in the hands of politicians who do not care about representing all Utahns. Please, show your regard for the people and for democracy by adopting the proposed boundaries of the independent commission.

We voted and paid for an independent redistricting commission to draw these maps. They have received excellent grades from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project in terms of their avoidance of partisan bias. Any move to throw out their maps goes against the interests and desires of the people of Utah. Keep the independent redistricting commission's maps!

This is ridiculous and obviously gerrymandering. How can this map legitimately be proposed and defended without blatant lies

This is preposterous gerrymandering.

This is blatant gerrymandering. The area where I live deserves to be fairly represented, rather than being lumped in with drastically different and distant parts of Utah. Fair, transparent, and nonpartisan maps were created based on overwhelmingly popular efforts by the people of Utah. Those maps alone should be adopted, as they best represent the interests of the people of Utah.

I urge you to use the maps proposed by the independent redistricting commission. It was done in a fair way, not gerrymandering.

This map does not represent the will of the people, nor does it represent the recommendations from the independent committee. There is absolutely no way to justify dividing Salt Lake County into 4 districts. How does a Salt Lake resident residing at 650 E 3900 S have more in common with a resident in Beaver, Utah than they do with their neighbors at 715 E 3900 S. How can the legislature justify being able to walk through four districts in an hour or run through four districts in 30 minutes? Please go back and consider the maps presented by the independent committee. Please listen to the will of the people that you represent.

You have literally divided our neighborhood into three different congressional districts! Not only is this unfair for our friends and neighbors, it's unfair for the people of southern Utah who share very different concerns. Why are you ignoring the work of the UIRC? Stop the gerrymandering!

These maps do not give Utahns fair representation. Constituents in urban areas often have different concerns than those in rural areas, and these maps would dilute both groups' interests. Please use maps drawn by the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission and restore Utahns' trust in their government.

I highly implore you to follow the Commission's recommendations.

I'm so disgusted by the way Utah's legislature continues to disregard the will of the people as decided by a vote. This map is just to latest iteration in an ongoing pattern that shows all too clearly that our elected officials fail to represent those that elected them. Please use the results of the independent commission and not this blatant gerrymandered mess.

I teach US Government. As I look at this map, all I can think is that, on the plus side, my students are getting a great example in real-time of gerrymandering. That's the only positive to this map that I see. This map ignores significant community and is a blatant power grab. How about instead of splitting up SLC to keep power, y'all come up with policies that are aligned to the priorities and values of the people? That's how you are supposed to get votes in a Democracy... not like this.

I am DISGUSTED that the Utah State Legislature brazenly is proposing another Gerrymandered map diving Salt Lake County in order to dilute the Democratic residents into four conservative Congressional Districts. In SPITE of the Non-partisan Redistricting Commission's recommendations looking nothing like this. I expect the Utah State Legislature to listen to the people of Utah who voted for this Re-districting Commission, and to adopt the recommendations of the Commission, NOT lean unto their own understanding.

Please, no more gerrymandering. As Utahns, we support one another through discussion, and then take things to the polls. We voted recently for an independent redistricting committee, and that is where we must depend for a fair & open process.

This is the most divisive and blatant example of gerrymandering I have ever experienced. You have intentionally split the Salt Lake valley into 4 sections and attached each to a rural community that has no relation to the urban experience. Same on all of you. You are obviously terrified of the liberal open-minded opinions of the majority of your constituents.

The majority of Utahns voted in favor of the Independent Redistricting Committee. This map shows a complete disregard for the findings of that commission. Clearly the legislature doesn't care about "the will of the people" or about democracy itself! What a blatant power grab when given the chance to fix the anti-democratic gerrymandering that's been going on in our state for too long. Your actions are shameful, anti-American and against everything our democracy stands for. I urge the committee to rescind this proposal and adopt the boundaries proposed by the UIRC.

The decisions made that led to this version of Utah's districts are disappointing, but unfortunately expected. The disingenuity of Republican leadership in this state, and country-wide, is continuously worrisome.

This is an embarrassing example of gerrymandering. Please do not use this map, please use a fair map. Splitting the most populous area of the state into four districts shows a blatant disregard for the democratic process.

This map is utterly disgusting! I would say you should be ashamed of yourselves but I know you are all soulless at this point. This is a blatant disregard for the needs of the people in this state and 100% a grab at attempting to keep Republican control. There is no way a representative can fight for the needs of their constituents when they serve both urban and rural communities. The needs of both are completely different and every citizen of this state deserves a leader who can and will fight for what is best for their individual communities (which clearly no one is getting at this moment). I beg of you, if you have any shred of decency left in you to do what is actually right for the people of Utah and NOT what is right for just yourself.

Very disappointed in this map. Just another way for elected officials to choose voters and not the voters to choose their elected officials.

This kind of gerrymandering is exactly what the majority of voters made clear we do not want when we voted to create an independent redistricting commission. Proposing this map and ignoring the recommendations of the independent commission is outrageous, and a direct affront to the voice of the people. Attempting to bolster support for this proposal by pitting rural voters against urban voters is disingenuous, as this map is designed to benefit neither group. Our legislators simply must conjure some commitment to principles of representative government and vote for one of the independent commission's proposals rather than this travesty.

I'm well beyond frustrated to see the Legislative Redistricting Committee ignore the Independent Redistricting Committee options and once again subdivide the Salt Lake metro region into 4 pieces. The rationale that each district should have an urban-rural mix is laughable - the point of the U.S. House is that regions within states should have representation and the IRC choices leave at least half the districts with urban-rural mixes anyways. Everyone knows the real reason our partisan legislators want to draw the map as proposed. That's why we voted for an independent redistricting committee, to stop this sort of nonsense. Stop disenfranchising us, please.

An independent group was brought in to provide the most balanced and trustworthy opinion on district layouts. This proposed map clearly ignores everything they suggested and looks nothing like their candidates. It is so obviously designed to dilute SLC it can't reasonably be called anything close to "fair".

The Utah state legislature would best serve the people by eliminating the use of maps to determine Utah's representation in the US Congress. Our winner-take all system ensures poor representation of our state. We should select our 4 Congressional representatives using a proportional representation system, as is described by fairvote.org (https://www.fairvote.org/proportional_representation_voting_systems), such as the proportional ranked choice voting system (https://www.fairvote.org/prcv#what_is_prcv).

This proposed map is appalling and blatantly gerrymandered. Use the maps the independent commission produced. I do not belong in a different district than my neighbors less than a block from me.

Wow, this map has it so I live in one district, go grocery shopping in another, work in a third, and go to school in a fourth. For a state with only four districts, it seems odd that my interests are now being represented by four different representatives!

This is such a disgrace particularly after the voters have spoken so clearly that we do not want politicians to manipulate and gerrymander our politics.

I am a registered Republican and this map makes me sick. It is a blatant anti-democratic power grab by politicians that care more for their power and party than to values of democracy and what it means to be an American. You have already subverted the will of the people not allowing the independent commission be the only body able to submit maps. Let's not make it worse. Please select one of the commission's maps. Which of their maps is a legitimate debate, but this map is shouldn't even be in the conversation. The only thing it is better at is subverting the will of the people.

I ask the legislature to respect voters by more closely following the recommendations of the independent committee. This map puts my nearby family and neighbors into different congressional districts. Its gerrymandering dilutes Salt Lake County's representation in the federal government.

This proposed map is total bunk. When will the legislature be willing to draw a map that makes it possible for Salt Lake County voters to elect Democrat candidates and representation that align with their political and moral views? You could still have three other districts that would assuredly vote in Republican folks who align with their views. Why the insistence on keeping Utah "pure" red in Congress? This map INTENTIONALLY and obviously dilutes non-Republican votes. Many other states have regions that are Democrat "strongholds" and a mix of Democrat and Republican congressional representation and yet they have survived. It's as if the legislature feels threatened by the possibility of even one Democrat representing Utah. It's legislative games like this that are driving people -- people like me -- away from the Republican party in Utah.

The proposed map is a huge disappointment. If anything it is worse than what we currently have and further divides the population of SL County into four districts with communities that have little in common.

These proposed maps are despicable. Words cannot express how disgusted I am with the Utah Legislature without the use of MANY expletives. You are meant to represent the people – all people in the state. A fair representation would mean various groups and interests are represented if the populations behind those groups and interests support it. The people of Utah support fair maps (hence the proposition that was passed) but Utah’s legislature seem to not care about fair representation or the will of the people who elected them. These proposed maps are clearly partisan and meant to prevent the democrats in Utah from having any representation in Washington. If this map is chosen it will be proof of state-sponsored gerrymandering. Stop splitting the most populous area of the state to dilute our voices and votes! Fair alternatives to this map exist and the maps presented by the independent commission should be used if you care at all about democracy and fair representation.

This is a shameful, regrettable attempt to subvert the constiuency's vote for independent review. Millions of votes have been ignored in this obvious attempt to rig the game. I'm tired of being ashamed of the behavior f our so called leaders.

This map is utterly shameful and the committee ought to be ashamed. You would think our representatives would have some inkling that they are intended to be stewards of the interests of the communities they serve, but that clearly is less important than entrenching their own power. Let me count the ways: 1) A blatant gerrymander to crack the capitol city into as many districts as possible. 2) Ignoring the democratically created non-partisan redistricting committee's recommendations. 3) Releasing the maps late Friday night for a comment period ending Monday. If this was something the committee was proud of they wouldn't try to hide it. 4) (Allegedly) Giving republican legislators a sneak peek of their districts and partisan breakdowns prior to releasing the map. I can only assume the chances of this getting rammed through without any input from constituents is 100%. However I hope the committee is acutely aware that they are acting in a disgustingly undemocratic fashion.

The proposed maps are disappointingly partisan. The new districts would divide communities and voters for partisan reasons, and the legislature's proposals ignore the work of the independent redistricting commission and the will of Utah voters.

This is one of the worst thing I seen. Why can't people understand we need change. They need to stop dividing us

As a South Salt Lake resident I am urging the state legislature to pick a different map. What interests could I possibly share with communities like Panguitch? Both my community and souther Utah communities deserve our own representation that serves US. It is difficult to see how this map could be drawn with our interests in mind, and it's clear that this map serves the interests of political parties rather than the people.

Absolutely shameful. The people of Utah voted to have voting districts drawn up by an independent commission. To just ignore this vote is unconscionable.

This map is clearly an attempt by some people in the legislature to keep their seats by making sure that the districts are skewed toward a certain party. Follow the UIRC recommendations, especially the Purple map. They worked hard to make the maps fair and non partisan. You might want to recognize how important and fair their maps are, and act accordingly.

Dear Redistricting Committee Chairs, After seeing the proposed maps that you as chairs released it is obvious that this is an egregious use of the directive that was given to you by the people. The people passed a Proposition and the legislature has been working to undermine it since the beginning. Even on the website for the redistricting committee it emphasizes that the legislature is responsible for the process and only barely mentions that feedback from the commission will be considered. While it is the legislature's job under the constitution to determine how the state should be divided up into districts, that really means they can determine the method used to draw up the maps and then vote on it. The legislature's ultimate job is to debate and vote on proposals given to them. So it may take courage to do the right thing but alas this is not to be. Giving the entire process to an actual independent commission and then voting on their recommendations takes nothing away from your job as legislators. The maps that you released yesterday are completely and totally pathetic. I should have known this was coming when I heard both of you on a podcast earlier in the summer and heard words that were concerning. You mentioned that rural Utah actually likes having the state divide up Utah more like it currently is because they get heard more. I'm sorry but that explanation makes no sense, if anything they are over represented because you have diluted the urban core. I grew up in southern Utah and now live in Salt Lake County and seeing Salt Lake County divided up as it is is definitely concerning. It is obvious from voting patterns that Salt Lake County has different objectives that Utah County and so forth so to hack it up the way you did is an affront to democracy. Also your statement that "Rural Utah is the reason there is food, water and energy in the urban areas of the state" give me a break. You both know this is not true. I don't know the numbers but Utah is a desert state so I would guess that a tiny fraction of the states food is grown here. Water is from the mountains near the urban areas run by water districts from those urban areas. Besides, making this statement shows that you want to have rural Utah over represented. I know this is a difficult task since so much of Utah's population is concentrated in a small geographic area but I would think that keeping communities of interest together would be a higher priority. It feels like all of the efforts of the citizens has been wasted since we are basically in the same place as 10 years ago which was also a problem.

Blatant gerrymandering....but what did we expect from our totally corrupt legislature? Disgraceful!

The legislature's proposed Utah map for U.S. House of Representatives is clearly biased and gerrymandered. This bothers me as a Republican in a Republican controlled state. Our nation is supposed to provide representation for the people. When the legislature blatantly divides up the Wasatch Front so the interests of this region can be ignored, then only the rural Utah areas are truly represented. This is undemocratic, unamerican, unethical, and immoral. Elections should be won on ideas, not through gerrymandering. Any one of the 3 maps drawn by the independent redistricting commission would have been acceptable. Utah voters voted for an independent redistricting commission and so blatantly ignoring the commission's maps and using one that isn't even close to the commission's maps is ignoring the will of the people. Even though I am a Republican and these maps will ensure total Republican control of Utah's U.S. House seats, I still find this map offensive. It means that everyone living on the Wasatch Front can have our concerns ignored, even when those concerns are non-partisan. Just because another political party in another state has gerrymandered doesn't make it right in our state or for Republicans to gerrymander. Gerrymandering is wrong no matter who is doing it. This map should be voted down and one of the 3 maps from the independent commission should be approved.

Every resident of UT should be concerned by this, yes even fellow republicans. Not only did the legislature subvert the will of the people, they have made it so no county will get fair representation. Notice how Davis County is divided in half. Do they think Farmington will be listened to when they will be clumped with Sugar house, West valley and St. George? The only thing this map does is ensure no county will be represented well. Does anyone believe that if the legislature is able to so blatantly refuse to honor the will of the people, we will ever be able to have a successful referendum again? In this mad quest to ensure no "D" ever has seat at the table, what rights are the people giving up? Next time the people disagree, nothing will stop the legislature from proceeding anyway. The legislature has made clear they do not care about representing the will of the people, only their own interests. With this map we all lose. This map is a shameful act by the Utah legislature to thoroughly disregard the will of the people. The commission submitted 10 maps that would have been representative for the legislature to pick from. Instead the legislature ignored 10 viable options and chose to create this gerrymandered abomination.

This map is unacceptable. That you would so blatantly gerrymander the districts when voters have asked for fair representation is like a slap in the face to your constituents. If retaining power while causing Utahns to lose faith in government is your goal, this map succeeds. On all other counts it's a travesty and a mockery of democracy. You still have time to do the right thing and reject this map.

You've divided districts at 56th west. I have so much more in common in terms of community needs with the people across the way who are now in CD4 while I'm in CD2, than I do with people in LaVerkin. This map is terrible. Utterly terrible. Stop with the whole "urban/rural" stuff. I'm sure they'd rather have a rep who listens to their concerns, represents their voices, and I know those of us in 84118 (and many other areas) would much rather have a representative who hears our voices, actually represents the very real needs our area has in DC. This map is terrible. The people of Utah asked for a redistricting commission, listen to our voices. Adopt the UIRC maps.

Please accept the congressional maps from the independent redistricting commission.

What a joke. This is blatant gerrymandering.

Please respect the will of the people and the bipartisan process of the Redistricting Commission. The Commission's work was done in a professional, bipartisan, transparent manner, and honest policy demands that their recommendations be followed. There is absolutely no reason that Salt Lake City should be in the same congressional district as St. George or Ogden. I believe the Orange Congressional 3 map developed by the Commission does the best job of aligning & balancing the interests of the various communities in Utah, though the Purple Congressional 4 map is also good, and any of the Commission's maps are worlds better than what is proposed here.

Fair representation benefits everyone, regardless of current political beliefs. Minds change, people grow, and homes are not either Democrat or Republican. Everyone benefits from truly representative government. The congressional district map proposed by Reps. Ray and Sandall during the week of Nov 1st prohibits this possibility. That proposal further divide our communities, who are trying their best to be less divisive, partisan, and tribal. Systemic division will not help heal these wounds. Please, please reconsider dividing up counties more than once or twice; and please do not divide cities, school boundaries, or geographically-based religious congregations at all. I believe that many of the independent commission's (though not all) accomplish this. This proposed map will reduce or eliminate the possibility of representation for the children, women, and men in all four districts. Republicans will benefit from rejecting this proposal. Democrats will benefit from rejecting this proposal. And the other 1.5M Utahns that don't identify with either of the two leading political parties will most certainly benefit from rejecting this proposal. As you do this, please consider the intent of what the public wanted when they voted in favor of Proposition 4. Thank you.

Traditionally the state of Utah has had a higher functioning democracy than many states in the Union. This was because patrician control has never been threatened to a point where undemocratic means needed to be implemented to maintain power. Party control is still not under threat today. Why then after voters voted for fair redistricting has this map been put forward? This redistricting map shows a very alarming shift towards authoritarian tendencies from the majority party. Elected officials represent their constituents in democracies, if you honestly believe the values of people in Vernal and Price match those of Park City and Holladay to a point where one member can fully represent them all you clearly do not know your state. However, I do think you know your state. Instead this map reflects the overall desire to move further from democracy to maintain control; this is egregious.

Chris Stewart has made it clear in many public statements that he simply does not care what urban voters want or think. As long as maps like these are drawn he gets to continue blatantly ignoring constituents. So the idea that a congressman will have to “balance rural and urban districts need” is simply and demonstratively wrong.

Vanilla Gerrymandering.

Please use one of the UIRC maps. All UIRC maps are superior to this "committee chairs" proposal, especially the two that keep communities mostly intact geographically. This will provide better, more responsive representation to citizens of each community and district and ultimately from the state a whole

This is nothing more than a not-so-clever way to suppress non-conservative voters in the state. Let the more liberal areas of the state decide what's best for themselves in one district, (SLC, Park City), and let the more conservative areas (literally everywhere else) make up the three remaining districts.

I'd hoped that the legislature would make some attempt to respect city or county boundaries with its map making. This map does a disservice to democracy in Utah. It is a slap in the face to the members of the Independent Redistricting Commission, who had the temerity to propose some fair maps for consideration by the legislature. With this map, the legislature has lost all pretense at legitimate governing.

The proposed map is a blatant act of gerrymandering. Salt Lake County is the most diverse region of the state and to split it into 4 different congressional districts is to effectively take away the voices of all who live in this area.

The purpose of this exercise it to ensure that the State's citizens have representation, not to ensure that incumbents will retain their seats. I'd say "shame on you" UT Legislature but you demonstrate again and again that you have no shame. Use the maps that the independent commission developed.

This map is absurd. The reason the people of Utah voted for an independent redistricting committee was to avoid this type of partisan gerrymandering. Voters should choose their politicians, politicians shouldn't get to choose their voters.

This map appears to be totally unfair. The Independent Commission, favored by the people of Utah, should be used to represent all of our population. This redistricting map appears to be nothing more than another gerrymandering gimmick. It's time to listen to the voters and represent them in a fair and honest way.

Creating an "urban-rural congressional mix" will favor urban areas practically every time, because that is where most voters will be concentrated. I realize that drawing boundary lines will never be perfect, but I believe that they should be drawn based on population centers and geography. If we do that, then Utah County and Salt Lake County will each have their own district, and then another district for Northern Utah and another District for Central/Southern Utah. That would give rural voters the best representation, and it would give Utah County and Salt Lake County the best representation too. Representation is about advocating what's best for constituents, and that's very hard to do when it's a rural/urban mix in each district (given that rural and urban needs are very very different from each other).

In 2018, a majority of Utah's citizens voted for independent redistricting, setting up a commission to draw new lines. The legislature seems to be mocking this process by ignoring their findings and imposing their own maps, which include the blatant gerrymandering that we voted to end.

This map shows that Republican leaders do not listen to their constituents and are only focused on keeping power by gerrymandering the districts. Listen to the people and what they voted for.

This is clear and brazen gerrymandering. I am not properly represented by this map, SLC should be in the same district. To completely ignore our public forum in the interest of your own gain is an outrage.

The maps created by the Independent Redistricting Committee should be the basis for the new Congressional maps. They do a better job of representing the comments of people all over the state. Salt Lake County should be in only two Congressional districts keeping communities of interest at a broad level together. A more rural based district would have a better chance of electing a rural based member of Congress who would really focus on rural issues rather than having all members of Congress based along the Wasatch Front.

This map is actually trash and you 100% know it. A first grader could draw a more fair map with crayons.

The independent redistricting commission meticulously documented the research done and process by which they produced their maps. Will the legislative commission do the same?

The voters spoke clearly when they passed the ballot initiative. I'm tired of not having the representation in congress that I deserve as a tax paying citizen. I implore you to follow the bipartisan map from the commission.

Completely unethical!

The Independent Redistricting Committee went around the state getting comments and feedback from communities. Deep study and thought about how to best serve Utahns was put into their maps, whereas map 132, the legislators' map, appears to have started with the idea of what serves those of us currently in office best and then given a quick stamp of approval by house leadership--not communities. This map should be rejected.

I voted for the voter initiative so this wouldn't happen. This is blatant gerrymandering and it shows a complete disregard for what we voted for. Honestly I expected more from our legislature. It looks like we started the map by picking the middle of Salt Lake and dividing it in 4. Looking at the Map, other regions appear to be mostly preserved; i.e. Utah Valley gets to vote together, and my area of Davis County (Bountiful to Farmington) gets to vote together, but Salt lake is not afforded that privelege. I get that there are population constraints, but my district, for instance includes St. George, which could easily be traded to the neighboring district for a section of Salt Lake so more of them could vote together. The message of this map is very clear: People living in Salt Lake are second class citizens in Utah and do not deserve their vote to be heard. They do not deserve the right to vote with their neighbors like everyone else in this map

This is gerrymandering at its finest. Carving neighborhoods into separate districts including rural with urban is NOT representation. It is suppression and I will be encouraging my neighbors and family members to comment - this is an absolute joke and total representation of the legislators that are threatened by democrats. What is the justification of this - would really like to hear impartial justification -NOT from people like freaking Rob Bishop that are clearly biased. This is an attempt to keep the voices of the Democrats squashed. This is disgusting.

Once again this map places the highly disparate communities of the Salt Lake Valley, Southwest, and Southeast rural into one district, making it impossible to build a coalition of advocacy or a consensus on the most important issues for the district. This hurts each of the communities as they can't be heard as effectively and the congressperson as they cannot effectively focus the issues they push as they have such disparate needs in their district.

Please use the maps developed by the independent commission. Salt Lake City should all be in the same district.

This map is completely unacceptable, and a slap in the face to every Utahn that voted for the bill to support redistricting free of gerrymandering. We voted for a map that represents us fairly, and this surely isn't it. Everyone can see what you are doing by proposing to carve the Salt Lake Valley into 4 different districts along with large swaths of rural and unpopulated Utah. You're trying to dilute the voices of the people in the primarily liberal Salt Lake Valley. I have lived here my entire life. I have never liked the ultra conservative politics here. What keeps me here is the ample access to wild places, and the people I love. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly clear that our state's leaders are trying to subvert the will of the people to maintain their political power. Some may say that is nothing new, I suppose, but you're not even trying to hide it anymore. How much longer do you think you can disenfranchise the citizens of the most populous part of the state without a massive uprising? We will not accept this. I'm mad as hell, and I'm going to give everyone I know a the link to this map, so that they can give you a piece of their mind, as well.

Well, here we go again, Utahns! Your FLAWmakers have pulled another Inland Port escapade on us, assuming that we're all walking around like 4-year-olds at a Pin the Tail on the Donkey party. I ask myself this every day: why do we keep electing these puppets! The maps as drawn reflect Republicans' state and national one-word mantra: NO. If there were ever a time to thwart these people on the Hill and draw Balanced Political Borders, this is it. See you at the Capitol on Monday.

The majority of Utahns voted for an independent commission to draw fair, non-gerrymandered districts. The legislators proposed map blatantly ignores the will of the people. Blatant disregard of what voters requested is on display with totally ignoring the 3 independent maps. Shame on you.

This location is in the same district as Farmington. 🤯 I think they have different needs.

Like the majority of Utah voters, I voted for a non-partisan, independet redistricting processm. This travesty of a congressinal map represents the same old hyper-partisan gerrymandering that Utah citizens voted AGAINST. The urban/rural districts are intended to dilute the voice of urban voters, and by the way, more than 90% of Utah citizens live in urban areas. In order to keep communities of interest together for fair represenation in Congress, there should be urban districts on the map. This map is unacceptable since it is designed to skew election results away from citizen interests. Utah can do better.

This is a deplorable attempt at the "door-in-the-face" technique. Even if this proposal is rejected, it paves the way for further gerrymandering later; a more reasonable proposal can be drawn up and can still be absurdly misrepresentative (the bar is not high), and it will have more support because "hey, it could be worse!" It's a win-win for the gerrymandering clowns who came up with this and that kind of manipulation needs to be thoroughly rejected.

This is not how you create fair representation for Utahns. It’s a shame we have such an obviously gerrymandered district boundaries. What a terrible divide this will create. Salt Lake has blatantly been divided.

About what I expect from Utah rmormon republican lesgislatives, They do their own thing regardless of the will of the people

This map is a clear example of gerrymandering and was not designed by the independent redistricting committee that we voted for.

The legislature has ignored the recommendations of the IRC. I expect they will likewise ignore the overwhelmingly negative response here. I expect they will continue to gerrymander until voters remove them from office.

At least the legislature is being brazenly honest in their intentions for once! This map is so obviously designed to prevent the people of Salt Lake County from being represented in Congress. What was the point of expending all of the resources needed for an independent commission to draw maps for us if the legislature is going to swoop in and push through an obviously gerrymandered map specifically designed to silence urban Utahns? This is shameful and pitiful, those Utah legislatures pushing this map are a disgrace to the state and the nation.

This map is clearly drawn to make sure Democrats never win.

Splitting the state's major metropolitan areas into 4 rural subsets dilutes the power of interests in both the rural and urban areas. To give people a voice they are entitled to, you need to keep common interests, not politics, grouped together. This map does not follow the principles of majority rules / minority rights our representative democracy is based on. Use the IRC recommendations - their recommendations allow for our representative democracy to function equitably and efficiently.

This map absolutely disrespects the fundamentals of democracy. The deliberate drawing of these lines shows an attempt to exclude many voices. The fact that within 2 blocks of me there are 3 different districts, but my district extends all the way down to the southern top of the state is a clear sign of gerrymandering to ignore the will of the people.

Blatant disregard for democratic values. Gerrymandering is a good sign that a parties policies are so bad that they know they cannot win with an educated electorate. The biggest part of the current leaderships platform seems to be denigrating minority voices, ensuring they are without representation, and dividing any cohesive group that could garner more votes. The Democratic platform was voted for by a majority of Americans. It is supported - as shown via polling - by a majority of Americans. However a minority of loud, rich, generally white and male leaders are rigging the game and instituting minority rule. An independent, non partisan, people led committee is the only way to do this properly.

You guys aren't even trying to appear as if you have a genuine concern for representing your constituents. The divisions in salt lake county are such a slap in the face to democracy. You're actively trying to silence the wants and needs of our state's most populated area so that you can artificially maintain control, or more realistically, maintain lobbying revenue streams. Corrupt. Selfish. Authoritarian.

This is an absolute disgrace of a "map". We, the voting population of Utah, voter for and passed an independent redistricting commission to try and make our maps as fair as possible. Fair means that cities get kept together, not split apart like leftovers after Thanksgiving dinner. Why should northern salt lake city and southern Davis county be lumped in with almost the entirety of southern Utah? It does no one any good- the residents of blanding deserve to have a representative that understands their needs and lives in southern Utah just as much as the wasatch front. Claiming that rural Utah gets a voice under this plan is a farce- as we have seen for the last 10+ years, even when you split up the wasatch front to dilute their votes, you still only get representation for the wasatch front.

This map is gerrymandering. Deciding to use this map instead of one of the ones created by the independent commission that the people voted for would be acting in bad faith.

This grossly undemocratic map demonstrates exactly why the people of Utah voted for an independent redistricting committee. It is clear that the Utah legislature is utterly incapable of drawing fair district maps. And you seem to be completely shameless about it!

There is no justifiable reason that SLC between downtown and the university should be in the same district as Ogden, apart from extremely partisan gerrymandering. This is wrong and un-American.

This is a completely unacceptable redistricting. The idea that the Avenues and U of U area are separate and divided from Sugarhouse is completely laughable. Salt Lake City is a very coherent community and this redistricting process is not fair, just, or representative. Being raised in rural Utah and living in SLC currently, the idea that federal representatives should be balancing the needs of urban and rural voters is absurd. We have the ability to create districts so that representatives can actually represent a cohesive community that already has a set of complex needs. We do not need to dilute urban voters with rural ones, and we do not need to dilute rural voters with urban ones. It is NOT the position of representatives to divide up different types of voters, but rather to select just and reasonable districts for voters. This is why we have districts in the first place, to represent cohesive communities. Salt Lake County should not be divided into 4 different districts. Ignoring the will of the voters by establishing the independent redistricting committee is flagrantly wrong and fully intended to suppress and silence Salt Lake County Voters. The fact that this map was released on Friday night with very little time for public input before the public hearing Monday is shameful. The legislative redistricting committee knows this is a shameful map that directly goes against the decision of voters in 2018, and they are trying to hide the window of criticism and visibility. It's shameful, disgusting, and un-American.

I just don't see the logic in splitting up one community, Millcreek, into four congressional districts. SL County is split up into four districts? How is that logical and fair? There isn't logic, just gerrymandering. Utah's legislature is just following the sorry example of other GOP and Democrat-controlled legislatures around the country. You would hope your own state would do a little better, especially in light of the fact that the voters passed a resolution calling for an independent commission to help design the boundaries. I know that the legislature will hide behind the Utah constitution and talk about how it is their duty to draw the lines. It's a disappointment they would seem to so easily cover their ears to the voice of their voters. We didn't want a pat on the head, a few million in taxpayer dollars, a melodramatic resignation from Rob Bishop at the 11th hour, being educated on what the Utah constitution says, and then a dismissal of everything that had been put together by the commission. We just wanted better, more representative, non-gerrymandered boundaries. I wish I could say that this was a huge surprise, but given the way that the Utah legislature has responded to the will of the people in some situations in the past, it seems that disregarding the will of the people in favor of partisanship is the rule rather than the exception.

This map benefits no one but politicians, and it clearly disregards the whole purpose and public will behind the Independent Commission. Diluting communities of interest simply allows political parties and outsize special interests to continue consolidating influence at the expense of the greater public good.

This map is a brazen attempt to disenfranchise urban voters. I'm very sympathetic to the fact that rural and urban Utah have different needs that both deserve representation, but your claim that the best way to do that is to carve up urban areas and swamp them with rural votes is absurd (as is your claim that the desert alfalfa fields are "feeding" the Wasatch Front, but that's a separate discussion). Use the independent redistricting maps (which, according to the referendum that passed several years ago you should have been *required* to use, except that you decided democratic process was optional) and make sure urban residents have a voice. We're your economic engine.

This is a blatant attempt to muddle the voices of urban and rural votes and allow the Republican party to continue to divide their constituents against one another. It does not represent the will of the people, it is illegal, and completely ignores the rigorous, fair, principled work done by the (bipartisan, Republican-led) Independent Redistricting Commission. The IRC was voted on and approved by Utah voters, and is being disregarded. This speaks volumes to your quest to retain power and not actually represent any voters in this state. These maps must be re-done to align with the work and submission of the IRC!

We asked for nonpartisan redistricting, not blatant gerrymandering. Rural interests are not urban interests. This proposal does not in ANY way come close to mirroring maps proposed by the UT Independent Redistricting Comte. They used a fair, data-driven process. Over 500,000 voters from all over this state asked for an independent commission; recognizing their contributions to a more balanced redistricting process will in no way reverse the republican dominance in our state. Please reconsider your political bias!

This is the definition of gerrymandering! This map is absolutely ridiculous. Salt Lake County split up into 4 districts to ensure that urban voters have no real say in anything.

This gerrymandered map is an affront to the people of this great state, who voted to create an independent redistricting committee and support the maps that committee drew. The legislature has become far too comfortable running roughshod over the will of its own constituents.

This proposed map deliberately splits my community into four to dilute the votes of my neighbors. The people of Utah voted for independent redistricting and the legislature has done everything in their power to disregard that vote of the people.

Urban and rural concerns are some times in conflict. How are the representatives supposed to choose which to represent or is it automatically the party position?

This is an unscrupulous, blatant attempt to preserve Republican party domination in the state of Utah. It shows complete disregard for the Independent Redistricting Committee's efforts. The IRC was requested by and approved by the voters. Give us our voice. Represent us in the manner we have chosen, not in this high-handed manner. You are not following the wishes of the people of the state of Utah. I am a lifelong moderate Republican. Why doesn't the party nominate reasonable, moderate candidates in each congressional district who can win on their own merits without being assisted by immoral gerrymandering? (This is not a rhetorical question.)

This is very disappointing that the state legislature is choosing to ignore the voice of the people who voted for independent redistricting, and the hard work of the independent commission. We all know rural and urban are code words for conservative and liberal. Please stop trying to dilute the voices of the more liberal parts of our state. Everybody's voice should be heard, and representatives should be able to focus on the common issues of the people they represent. Our state legislature would only improve by having a few differing perspectives at the table.

Keep Davis County in one district please. We should have a unified voice for Congress, especially to join with Weber County. The other commission recommended maps are better.

This is insane. By carving up Salt Lake County into 4 pieces, this map effectively eliminates the voice of 40% of Utah's population.

Why is the entire Salt Lake County split into four sections? I hope this comment doesn’t get ignored, and is legitimately responded to. But it won’t be, because what this map represents is the disgusting amount of gerrymandering and politics playing the people responsible for this are doing. When you look at the data, it doesn’t make sense we. Salt lake county residents are split between their votes not counting through northern Utah, eastern, western, and southern Utah. Some places on this map HAVE TO DRIVE THROUGH ONE DISTRICT TO GET TO ANOTHER AND THAT TRIP WOULD BE 6 HOURS!!! That is terrible, not to mention there is no governing reason this map makes sense. Salt Lake county has a much different and bigger economy, has waaayy larger population, and a very different way of governing. You simply cannot make the same policies for these enormously unjust districts and expect it to work for SLC. The obvious goal here is to make the voices of Salt Lake County count much less that the rural population. 80-85% of the entire states’ population lives in Salt Lake county, this map is completely unacceptable and should be considered illegal. Get with the facts, Utah is going to be a blue state and there isn’t anything you can do about it. Maybe actually try governing again instead of playing hate politics and your constituents may return. I was to vote R, until I realized you don’t care about me our people like me. This map very clearly reflects your willingness to prioritize a party over a country. Traitors.

Are you kidding me? Dividing SLC up and lumping me with ALL of southern Utah? Really? How is this remotely fair? How are my values being heard? How are southern Utah values being heard? Dividing us up like this simply favors rural voices and does so to prevent the metro areas from having any say in coming up with balanced laws. Disgusting, partisan and no better than what we had. Another pathetic attempt to maintain one party, minority rule over the state.

Any UIRC map is better than this. Time and money went into hearing the voice of the people. We want to preserve communities of interest and limit county and municipality splits. This does not do that. By not following those recommendations, you are not following the voice of the people.

A lot of people are saying stuff like “the people of Salt Lake county won’t be properly and adequately represented because it’s split into four districts. I mean sure, that’s true or whatever, but I don’t care. I just think it’s neat that Bountiful and Mexican Hat are in the same district.

This map I’d directed at republicans I do not agree

Once again the people of Utah spoke and once again they were not listened to. It is appalling that the public has no voice in our own legislature. We need districts that represent us all, not the legislatures interests.

Look, I'm a Republican but these maps are gerrymandered and unprincipled. Follow the Independent Redistrcting Commission recommendations. Provo and Salt Lake CIty should be wholly contained in their own Congressional Districts. It is really disappointing to see this blatant attempt to ensure that voters are not represented by people who share their interests. Democracy is really in peril and you are part of it. We have a commission, follow their recommendations.

This map is detrimental to the interests of rural Utah citizens. Rural communities already are overshadowed by cities in the conversations occurring in DC. Now all of rural Utah will have to compete for attention with the Wasatch Front, as there’s not a single district that is focused on the distinct needs of Utah’s non-urban, non-suburban communities. This is the true cost of partisan gerrymandering — poor quality representation for all of Utah.

I have never felt truly represented and this seeks to reduce my chance of this ever happening, as if the world would crumble if Utah produced one non-conservative legislator. I fail to see how my neighborhood's needs and priorities regularly align with such a huge swath of rural, less populated section of the state. I also live relatively close to my work, but despite home and work both being well within Salt Lake City proper, my vote will do nothing to help what's going on with my workplace. Or issues my parents, who are 10 minutes away also in the city, may have. And that's different district still from the high school I went to and my efforts to remain connected with and help build that community, also in the city. Shame on you for this blatant attempt to dilute the city, which has its own unique problems that its citizens should be able to count on a single representative to help listen to and resolve.

These maps are an insult to the people of Utah, and especially the people of the Salt Lake Valley. They are obviously meant to deny residents of Salt Lake City the representation they deserve and insulate Republicans from the consequences of their horrible judgment and general moral turpitude. I live in the Ballpark District. What do we have in common, politically and culturally, with residents of Tooele County? Absolutely nothing, and that’s the point. Fix the maps to make SLC its own district. Republicans are enemies of democracy.

The rural areas and urban areas should have their own representation. The only time our Rep comes to check on us is when he is running for reelection. He lives in Farmington. What does he know of Kanab!

This is blatant gerrymandering and a complete disregard for your constituents. You should be ashamed of yourselves for continually ignoring the people you claim to serve. This disenfranchises both urban AND rural voters. My needs in West Jordan aren't the same as someone in Goshen, and it's shameful to suggest otherwise. You disgust me.

This map is an awful subversion of the voters wants, South Jordan has far more in common with our neighbors of the Salt Lake Valley than we do with central Utah. And I don't understand at all how you think it's acceptable to pair rural southern Utah with Sugarhouse. This is not the change we voted for when we asked to have an independent commission, and you know that. Do the right thing, listen to your constituents, and use a map that well represents all Utahans.

Disgusting attempt to dilute the voices of the metropolitan population, shameful and cowardly.

I am beyond disappointed in the apparent lack of interest in allowing an actual democratic election in this state. For many of us voting will become an empty gesture.

This comment is directed at the proposed map for the 4 Congressional districts. While I am not surprised at all, I am disappointed that this map was proposed. Clearly this map is for the sole purpose of gerrymandering the state to ensure that districts are not competitive and that Republicans get elected to Congress. Let's look at this point by point. First, it is clear that the primary intent of this map is to split the Democratic vote in Salt Lake City. In Republican gerrymandering terms, this is called "cracking". But beyond the obvious reason for this, it clearly does not keep communities of interest together. That is one of the stated requirements of redistricting. This map completely fails that requirement. Second, it makes no sense whatsoever to have both rural and urban Utah mixed together in every district. The needs of these two areas are wildly different. Look at it this way. If I am an elected representative in any of these districts, where do most of my constituents live? In the urban areas. Where am I going to focus most of my time? In the urban areas. With these maps you have further disenfranchised the voters in the rural parts of the state. They deserve representation just as the Democratic leaning areas of the state do. Third, and perhaps most importantly, it is quite clear that these maps show that the legislature does not listen to what the citizens of the state have told them. We voted for an independent redistricting committee for exactly the reason that you have shown here. Politicians cannot be trusted to do the right thing. That is very concerning because it causes me to wonder on what other issues the legislature is not listening to the citizens on. This maps are disgraceful. I would respectfully encourage you to consider the maps that the independent committee drew up. They were balanced and were fair to ALL of the voters in the state of Utah.

I am appalled that the redistricting map has split my neighbors North if 900s from me in representation. This is blatant gerrymandering abd ignoring the independent council recommendation.

Your congressional map has taken away my voice by mixing it with thousands of rural Utah residents. Your map splits my metropolitan concerns into 4 separate districts and then mixes each with thousands of voters who have VERY DIFFERENT needs. Where is the Salt Lake City District? On your map it does not exist, even though we are the largest population group in the whole state! You did it to all of the dense population centers in Utah. That is Deliberate Misrepresentation. Shameful. Unfair. Shellfish. Again. We see you for who you really are. Yours is not the way forward. You are a corruption of, and an insult to democracy.

This is terrible. The legislature has ignored the will of the people again. We need to amend the State Constitution and take the responsibility of redistricting out of the hands of the legislature. This is the third redistricting process I have observed and they have gone from bad to worse. The Republican majority in the legislature need to have this power taken from them.

This is a blatant example of gerrymandering and disregards hundreds of thousands of voters who want independent, fair maps. Please use the IRC maps.

Funny how this isn't a joke. Are the R's getting scared they might love in a fair election?

It's somehow worse than the current map. This is an embarrassment

The Salt Lake County suburb of Millcreek is split into all four Congressional districts. If that's not a textbook example of partisan gerrymandering, I don't know what is. "Rural Utah is the reason there is food, water and energy in urban areas of the state...We are one Utah and believe both urban and rural interests should be represented in Washington, D.C., by the entire federal delegation." -- Scott Sandall. Districts should be drawn to keep like communities together. That is good government. Rep. Sandall's statement is the opposite of that. His remarks are indefensible and a naked attempt to justify partisan gerrymandering.

This is highly offensive and obvious. If Republicans can't win, they'll stack the deck in their favor.

I acknowledge that, given the opportunity, the republican-controlled state legislature will draw maps to maximize their advantage, and I can’t really blame them for doing so. I am, however, extremely concerned with the state legislature’s worrying trend of ignoring Utah voters and our democratic process. We could not have been clearer: the majority of Utah voters do not want the state legislature to be drawing our maps. The blatant disregard for our voice and expressed preference is extremely concerning. The legislature exists to represent Utah voters, consistently ignoring them sets an extremely dangerous precedent which is completely unacceptable.

This is so brazenly split up its divided on MAIN STREET. In what universe does the literal center of the urban area need to be split in half?

It's not surprising that the proposed map is as badly gerrymandered as the current one. However it is disappointing. I live in a heavily liberal neighborhood and it makes zero sense for us to be represented by the same member of Congress. It will be impossible for that representative to do what's best for ALL their constituents. Unless the goal is to continue to silence the Democratic voice of Utah. You should be as disgusted with yourself as we all are of you. I urge you to revise this plan and do the honest thing.

Wow, since when could living in Salt Lake City leave open the possibility of living within any of Utah's 4 congressional districts? Where is the input of an independent committee? Also, in response to the only written defense of current redistricting efforts: Utah's rural lands contribute minimally and in no way sustain SLC. (https://yourutahyourfuture.org/topics/agriculture/item/27-background-agriculture-in-utah) I lodge my complaint at the disrespect and intentional bias of this gerrymandered redistricting mishandle. This in no way embodies the ideal of electing public officials for by the voice of their local constituents.

This map is disgraceful. It makes no sense that central Salt Lake Valley citizens share a representative with Monticello. So much effort was put into such a terrible map. Truly a shocking feat. Obvious options would have been so much easier and benefited community continuity. This map makes it very possible for all of Utah's congressional delegation to come from Salt Lake County. How does that benefit residents statewide? How does this guarantee representation for the concerns of southern Utah and rural Utah citizens??? We knew these behind-closed-doors maps would be bad, but this gerrymander is blatant by any standards. This was a shameful process that ignored the will of the voters who wanted partisan power dynamics removed from map making. These maps do not serve the best public, regardless of where they land on the urban/rural spectrum.

This is pretty pathetic. I honestly am embarrassed that this is how we choose to govern in this state. We have a majority of Republicans but we have a lot of Democrats and they deserve representation as well. Really shameful.

I live in the heart of west valley, a heavily blue city with many different multicultural backgrounds. I do not think this area should be in the same congressional district as rural southern utah. This is not representative and heavily favors republicans.

Apparently the legislative committee learned nothing from this past Monday's presentation by the UIRC, since this proposed map completely ignores the most important features of the three Congressional maps presented. Those features include keeping cities & towns together when possible, keeping counties together to the extent possible, and recognizing that urban and rural areas have different priorities. Given that the 2020 Congressional election in Utah had 39% of the vote for non-Republicans, and 39% is more than 25%, where is the non-Republican congressional representation for Utah? Gerrymandered out by this same UT legislature that wants to pull the same stunt again. Guess what we really need is a Constitutional amendment to remove the UT legislature from having any input into district mapping, since clearly this legislature believes that we the people work for them, not that they work for us. The UIRC presented the legislature with three maps that all meet the goals of being non-partisan - the legislature's task was to decide which map to adopt.

Why am I in this district? Why is it stretched down this far only in a tiny strip? Why does it only cover half of my city? I know why, it's because having dense population areas like Provo in another district would make for a fair election, so this district was stretched down all the way to springville to make sure it and all the others vote red. You're not even trying to hide the gerrymandering anymore. It's disgusting, dishonest, and disappointing. If you have to cheat to stay in power, you shouldn't be in power. You should be charged with fraud.

https://old.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/comments/qofwpp/you_have_to_almost_admire_the_brazenness/ What a joke.

Shameful display of gerrymandering and partisanship.

This obviously very heavily gerrymandered map takes the most populated part of the state and divides it amongst all of the districts. Effectively taking representation away from the majority of the population of the state. Clearly they are trying to rig the system against the majority of the residents of this state by dividing us up amongst the rural population. They should be ashamed of themselves by drawing such a map, the fact that they did draw up such a map shows they have no shame and are only interested in rigging elections. Clearly they can only win elections by only counting the votes of rural farmers in the middle of nowhere.

Honestly I can't believe I'm even seeing this. The attempts to gerrymander this state is so transparent. Clearly the legislature is trying to dilute and divide the majority liberal salt lake county in order to benefit them and the "church" (or corporation) they represent. And of course they released the map on a Friday night to avoid it getting the exposure it deserves.

Utah is a majority urban state. The redistricting must reflect this with at least 1 and probably 2 urban districts. The current map is clearly set to support the existing Republican domination and is not representative of the population.

Utahns voted for an independent commission to develop a map that best represents Utah, both urban and rural. I felt the independent commission did a respectable job of this. Urban areas should be represented by someone that lives in an urban area and rural areas should be represented by someone in a rural area. This proposal to divide urban areas so each district has a piece of that urban pie doesn't work. Please respect the voice of the people and reconsider using the independent commission's proposed map.

Mike Wickens states the following, "This is great! If this can keep the Democrats from holding a congressional seat Utah will be better off for many years." At least someone is honest about what this map is really about. However, the redistricting process should follow the same principles of representative government that harmonize partisan interests to achieve fair representation. Two principles of representative government address this concern. The first is simple democracy which is meant to protect the masses against the dominating will of an elite minority. The other is republicanism, which is meant to protect a vulnerable minority against mob rule through equitable (rather than merely proportionate) representation. As I'm sure you are aware, this is why bicameralism is such an important feature of the legislative branch and why America is a constitutional federal republic, rather than a "democracy" as such. Since Utah is a supermajority Republican state, we ironically fall into Republican mob rule where "might makes right." I submit that the current congressional map proposed by the legislative committee does exactly this. Using voting precinct data we find each district roughly approximates the proportion of Republicans to Democrats in the state population. But in doing so, it undermines that fundamental principle of republicanism, equitable representation. Precisely because the districts reflect the state partisan populations, none of the districts are remotely competitive. Therefore, I propose that a truly representative congressional map, a "republican" map, would strike a balance between competitiveness and proportionate partisan representation. Instead of all 4 districts approximating the State's 65-35% Republican-Democrat split, 3 of the districts would approximate a 75 (Rep.)- 25 (Dem.)% split and the 4th would offer a slightly less competitive 35 (Rep.)- 65(Dem.)% split. The Public submission SH2 Map from the Independent Redistricting Commission accomplishes this, though that is not the only positive criteria about it. It also features urban-rural districts and reduces the number of split counties and cities. Of course, there is no perfect map. I am not sure how Vernal would feel about being lumped in with Salt Lake. However, these are the same drawbacks found in the Legislative committee's proposal, SH2 simply distributes them in a more republican (small-r) fashion. For these reasons, I believe SH2 to be a clear choice.

This map literally splits Salt Lake City in half with the dividing line going through downtown — on Main Street no less. This isn’t “one Utah,” it’s the complete opposite. It is contempt for the people of Utah.

The legislatures abandonment of the nonpartisan maps in favour of this atrociy is gerrymandering at its worst. Dissecting towns and communities to force single party representation is a prime example what ails our country and will be the end of our democracy. Refusal to allow competitive districts is utter cowardice, and shows a disdain for the market of ideas. We can only hope that the committee members have enough personal integrity to vote against this travesty of partisanship and adopt one of the IRC maps; the majority of voters chose the IRC to represent the interest of fairness, and failing to choose one of their maps spits in the face of the people.

I used to be Republican, but this is the sort of thing that drives people away. Learn to have empathy for others and work together for the good of everyone. No one wins when partisan politics divide us until we are all conquered. This map is as dividing as ever. You might think, no it makes it so we won't have division in our legislature because we'll have 4 united Rs, but a letter by your name doesn't determine whether you are right or wrong. Start working together, start reaching out and uniting. Build something for the future and stop tearing others down.

Congrats to the gerrymandering committee, you accomplished your goal.

Absolutely unacceptable. This display of partisan gerrymandering isn’t just a spit in the face of all Utahn’s, but clearly displays the inability and unwillingness to represent diverse political views. So much for the “Utah Way”.

I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican, but seeing this map is very disheartening. I don't care so much whether a map is drawn by a commission or a legislature, but it should be drawn on more truly objective criteria - population and geography. Not party interests. Not political interests. Not urban interests. Not rural interests. Not special interests. Only divide counties if the population is too big for the district size. Divide only the minimum number of times needed. Same with cities. We have objective criteria at our fingertips - where people are and how many live there - and this is all that should be used when determining district maps. It is clear that the commission tried to follow such a criteria, but if the legislature throws it out for this type of a map that is so clearly politically drawn and driven, I will be very disappointed. We should do better in Utah.

The majority of Utahns voted for the non-partisan redistricting commission. The maps they produced where chosen very wisely. They understood that urban and rural voters have very different concerns. Why, did the legislative committee ignore these maps? Why was the states most populous urban county with almost 1/3 of the states population divided into four districts? One word -- GERRYMANDERING.

Shame on you for ignoring the independent redistricting commission. Although I shouldn't be surprised. You all have already proven that you'll do anything to stay in power. P.S. I am NOT a democrat or a republican, not that that should matter.

This map is a joke, but it's drawn by Republicans who don't believe anybody else should have the right to vote. So fuck them, they won't do the right thing I hope COVID takes them all out.

I dislike this proposed map because it unreasonably slices and dices the urban and suburban Salt Lake County into all 4 districts. While the drafters argue this ensures that both urban and rural Utah is represented, I don't think this does that more than it "cracks" the urban areas of the state into uncompetitive districts. The Independent Redistricting Commission offers reasonable alternatives that protect the representation of rural Utah while ensuring that 3300 South isn't in the same legislative district as St. George. I'm very disappointed by the legislature and instead would like to see one of the IRC's 3 potential maps approved. They spent months and thousands of hours talking with communities and did so in a non-partisan way, unlike these maps that have been drafted by the dominant party to protect their dominance.

The Salt Lake area needs to be better represented! Don't chop it up and give it to the rural towns.

This map is is a blatant attempt to manipulate Utah's demographics and group voters with entirely disparate interests and needs. It's ludicrously unrepresentative.

This makes no sense. We need groupings which represent our different areas and interests rather than splitting and dicing densely populated cities up and pairing them arbitrarily with different rural areas. We need proper representation rather than having whole groups get swallowed up in those of others. Use a map drawn up by the independent commission and stop gambling with our future.

This map is a travesty. The state legislature has disenfranchised the prevailing interests of the highest population area and greatest economic hub in the state, in order to ensure that their party maintains total control of our federal representation. It is morally reprehensible, ethically bankrupt, and sadly just as expected.

This congressional map shows blatant gerrymandering against the people living in the capitol of the state. While Salt Lake County must be split, to split the neighborhoods, schools, and even small LDS stakes in the Millcreek area into three or four districts shows a complete disregard for the shared interests of the people in this area. The UIRC did an excellent job keeping local communities intact. If we must include both major urban and rural areas in each district I propose keeping Provo, Lehi, Salt Lake and Ogden as the major urban areas, with no county being split more than twice. You cannot defend decisions to do otherwise as a non-partisan decision. As a voter and donor I will not support those that push this map forward.

Very disappointed! I believed Utah was better than this. The Legislature knows the will of the people. They know most people are tired of the rancor and the venom in politics and they sought out a way to play fair, an independent commission, who easily could have put out a drastically political map, but they knew their mandate. They knew the assignment. Downtown SLC doesn’t have the same issues, problems or priorities as most of the rest of the state. I believe the Utah legislature will shame themselves with what they are doing. The legislature didn’t understand the assignment. #bebest

My zip code only extends two miles at its longest point, but is split into two separate congressional districts on this map. My community deserves the fair representation that comes from keeping neighbors together. Please do your jobs as public servants and reject this partisan political map in favor of one assembled by the Independent Redistricting Commission.

This is an absolutely ridiculous map, don't do this

The voters have asked for an independent commission to create a fair, non-gerrymandered map of congressional districts. Splitting the most populous county in the state up four ways is the definition of gerrymandering. Try again, you failed to fulfill your mandate.

Totally absurd that Salt Lake City is divided this way. There’s no way these should be legal districts

This map is a joke. Contrary to the lies being told by it's creators, this map does not represent the interest of urban parts of the state, particularly Salt Lake County. Rather it deliberately excludes us by insuring that House Candidates can safely ignore our interests and still get elected. Salt Lake County is the economic and cultural heart of the state and we're sick of being ignored. Sounds like it's time to start gathering signatures again.

I cannot believe that somehow the map is even more screwed up than it used to be. I voted for gerrymandering bill and somehow it all turns out even more screwed up than it used to be. The partisanship on display here is absurd and I am embarrassed to live in this State.

The best way for rural voters to be represented in Congress is by having a rural representative who lives in a rural District. And likewise for urban voters. As currently drawn, the legislature is ensuring simple majority rule across the state instead of allowing voters to be represented by individuals who are in tune with the unique needs of the various demographics in our state. Please reconsider the maps proposed by the Independent Redistricting Commission. - Independent voter

I'm a resident of Millcreek and it's clear that this map is an attempt to split our vote. The needs of Millcreek residents will not resonate with much of where we are "districted" just as the needs of rural areas will not resonate with an urban area. This map is gerrymandered to favor the conservative Republican party. The gerrymandering is egregious, blatant, and honestly offensive. While I hope a more fair map will be chosen, it feels like this is a power grab. The question is, do voices matter? Or power? Obviously, this map tells me you only believe in power - not real Democracy.

This is terrible and you know it

As a resident of Millcreek, this map makes representation confusing and unfair. In the interest of keeping my city as a single community of interest, splitting it into four districts does not accomplish that. For example, the needs and interests of Congressional District 2 are widely held by the rural communities of southern Utah--their interests and issues are not parallel to urban areas, like Millcreek. Give a voice to the urban areas of our state. This map serves no one.

This map is a textbook example of cracking. We all know this is intended to separate the population of Salt Lake County into a small percentage of each district. In other words, all four delegates represent only rural parts of the state and Salt Lake County has zero representation. It is ridiculous that friends, neighbors, and coworkers in my community would all reside in different congressional districts. Use one of the maps from the UIRC. Anything else is unacceptable.

This is so disheartening. Why is my city (Salt Lake City) split between 4 different congressional districts? How does this satisfy keeping municipalities together or respect traditional neighborhoods and communities? Why was all the hard work of the independent commission just tossed away?

Here is a definition of gerrymandering: Manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class. If you choose to divide Salt Lake County into 4 districts, and Salt Lake City, Millcreek City, and West Valley City into different districts, you are choosing to "manipulate the boundaries to favor" the Republican party. This is blatant gerrymandering. This is what the Republican party has consistently done and this is why the citizens of Utah passed a citizen's initiative to have an independent commission propose boundaries. I hope that all involved will be honest with themselves and choose integrity over political interests.

Why are you ignoring the redistricting commission maps that Utah voters asked for? This is blatant gerrymandering, which Ronald Reagan called "antidemocratic and un-American" and "a national scandal."

This is gerrymandering at its best, and a prime example what's wrong with our democracy and politics in general. Committee members, please, have some dignity and adopt one of the IRC maps - that's what the majority of voters voted for and wants.

As a resident of Millard County I don’t understand how I can be better represented by by a urban/rural mixed district. Our needs are obviously different and it’s hard to have a voice when our representatives are more concerned with a concentration of voters in more urban areas. Please take another look at the independent commission’s proposals thank you

This map is based on a very arbitrary and recent opinion that both urban and rural areas should be represented within every single district. This is not a requirement in the US or Utah constitutions, or 2018's Proposition 4. Rather it is a thinly veiled attempt to suppress Utah's political minority, which is absolutely contrary to the idea of the United States, which was originally born out of a lack of representation in England. In this map the Legislative Redistricting Committee attempts to stop 25-35% of Utahns from having even a single voice in Congress by "cracking" the most heavily democrat-leaning section of the state into all 4 districts. These maps were invented with no public input. In contrast, the UIRC has toured the entire state, poured months of public comment and input into their maps, focused on communities of interest when drawing lines, and had an equal mix of majority and minority committee members. While the Legislative Redistricting Committee's maps are politically beneficial for 65-75% of Utah, the UIRC maps are the State's best shot at a fair map for 100% of Utah. Please reject this map and select one of the UIRC maps.

This is terrible. Utah is better than this.

Stop gerrymandering our districts! I voted for impartial commissioners to do this job! I want them to make this decision; not YOU!

If this map is adopted, it seems inevitable that the next decade will see a constitutional amendment pushed through to remove the power of the legislature to draw the redistricting maps. Given the disappointing results of the compromise that made the Redistricting Commission this go-around, I doubt future anti-gerrymandering groups will be willing to compromise. If the comments on this page are any indication of how the vote on that amendment will go, perhaps the legislature might maintain their power better by adopting one of the proposed maps rather than losing complete control of the redistricting process in 2030. And 2040. And 2050…..

Utah Republicans have once again shown that they hate democracy and free and fair elections by drawing another rigged congressional map. Of course this is not the least bit surprising. However, it is ultimately the Democrats who are to blame for this rigged maps as US Senate Democrats are refusing to pass a bill that would outlaw partisan gerrymandering. I want all Utah liberals to remember this as they go to vote in the next rigged US House election. So much for democracy.

Why is Lehi City being split into two districts? This makes no sense.

Wow, I hope any LDS state legislators who vote for this map have read their Book of Mormon and recognize that they are the power-hungry rulers who ignore the voice of the people and bring about societal collapse form their own greed. This is so blatantly gerrymandered, splitting Salt Lake County into 4 different districts AGAIN, that it is hard to fathom. I wouldn't march in the streets for many things, but I would to fight against this blatant partisan power grab.

The proposed map of congressional districts is disappointing but not surprising. There is an inherent conflict of interest in having the legislature draw these maps which is exactly why we voted for Proposition 4 three years ago. I urge our representatives to listen to their constituents, do the right thing, and select one of the maps proposed by the Independent Redistricting Commission. I'd also like to address Senator Sandall's remark about representing both rural and urban parts of the state: First, having both rural and urban constituents does not by itself ensure that the concerns of both are represented, especially in a first-past-the-post/winner-takes-all electoral system. Furthermore, conflicts are often best resolved through open debate and discussion which is best achieved when each side has a strong advocate. And if you worry that several representatives may find it difficult to come together and find a reasonable compromise, what makes you think that a single individual can do so without the open debate and discussion? Second, simultaneous representation of rural and urban residents is already achieved by the US senate. Our US senators already represent the whole of Utah and thus both rural and urban parts of the state. Surely we can afford some diversity in the House of Representatives. Finally, even if you believe that joining rural and urban parts of the state into the same district is beneficial, this goal is not worth the tradeoffs required to achieve it. The criteria for determining new boundaries were clearly laid out in Proposition 4. These included minimizing the division of counties, cities, and towns and preserving traditional neighborhoods and local communities. These criteria were not significantly modified with S.B. 200. In particular, neither Proposition 4 nor S.B. 200 recommend that each district represent both rural and urban parts of the state. The priorities were clearly laid out in Proposition 4 and reiterated in S.B. 200. Please respect the will of the people and use one of the maps designed to reflect our priorities -- namely those proposed by the Independent Redistricting Commission.

This is unacceptable. People of Sugarhouse and St. George are nothing alike. This is blatantly trying to weaken the voice of the Salt Lake City citizens on the Federal level. You have better map suggestions at your disposal. USE THEM

I agree with the majority of comments posted against this map. It is wrong to divide the urban cities as proposed and the interests of rural communities would be diluted by mixing in urban interests.

This is a blatant disregard for the will of the majority of the people. Independent redistricting is the only way for fair representation, and that's why Utah, as a whole, voted for it. Stop defying the will of the people to further serve personal ambitions, Representatives! You're supposed to SERVE the people, not rearrange the people's will to better serve you. This map goes completely counter to everything Utah stands for, including integrity and honesty.

Dear UT Legislators. This is undemocratic, immoral, and ridiculous. You know it, we know it. You had a chance to take the high ground and give citizens in SLC a voice in congress, but you blew it. Way to squander your best chance at credibility. You have given me just cause to increase my monetary donation to the D's in 2022. Game on.

No matter your political party, how the voting maps are drawn are to ensure a fair election. It would be prudent for the Utah Legislature to adopt the Independent Redistricting Map. The one the voters asked for, the one the voters voted for, the ones the voters addressed in a ballot initiative.

Comment from a supporter of this map: "This is great! If this can keep the Democrats from holding a congressional seat Utah will be better off for many years." - Mike Wickens. Well you just described why this map is awful...

Register Republican here: I'm concerned that this is an unfair map to the actual desires and will of the people of Utah. Please redraw them to more accurately reflect the will of the people and to create a more perfect union. Yes, it will mean slightly fewer republicans in office but will ultimately equal correct representation.

I live in Vernal. We absolutely shouldn’t share a Congressional district with Salt Lake City. I don’t care if Democrats get Salt Lake county. I want a representative that’ll focus solely on rural Utah’s issues. I don’t want my voice, or rather my Representative’s voice split between urban and rural points of interest.

I cannot believe how much our representatives have decided to disregard the people they supposedly are representing and only looking at how they can stay in power. By splitting the state like this they clearly want to gerrymander the state so that they retain just enough republican support to stay in power, regardless of the actual group they should be serving and representing. If they cannot use a map from the independent commission, who as others have noted we voted for in the first place and paid to have them do their job well, they should consider if they are really worthy of holding their seats.

As a resident of Sugarhouse area, I cannot understand how the map proposed makes sense for the community that I live in and thrive in. the Independent committee has maps that should be considered. The logic behind this map that is clearly designed to divide my community and city is shameful. Please listen to the citizens.

As drawn, my oldest daughter will attend high school in a separate congressional district from my youngest daughter attending middle school. The are in the SAME school district, in the SAME city. In a typical morning, I will leave my house in District 1, drop my son off at daycare in District 2, go to work in District 4, and return home via District 3, and never travel more than 15 miles. My wife and I will leave home in District 1, and she will go to work in District 2, and I will go to work in District 4. In 2022, I will see billboards and yard signs for 4 different congressional seats along a 10 mile drive, but only be represented by one of them. These maps are a travesty, were drawn irrespective of existing city or county boundaries, and are non-congruous with major geographic boundaries and features. Literally any of the maps proposed by the Independent Redistricting Commission are better for a majority of voters than this map. This map provides poor representation for a very large number of Utah citizens. The Independent Redistricting Commission invested more time and effort and produced much, much better maps. The legislature shouldn't even consider this map - throw it out.

First, urban/rural districts don't work. Land doesn't vote, people do. They are competing interests, and no man can serve two masters. That said, if you insist on moving forward with the ridiculous quest to do urban/rural, there are ways to do it that don't require splitting Salt Lake County four ways. This map is in direct opposition to the will of the people, manifest in Prop 4, and should not even be considered for adoption.

This map is a disgusting example of partisan politicians using their power to choose their voters to insulate them from the will of the citizens of Utah. Anyone in the Utah legislature who cares about the American ideal of government of, for, and by the people ought to be offended to their core by this foul double-usurpation of the right of the people to choose their political representatives. Not only will this gerrymandered map cement the power of the one-party system in Utah, but the legislature will demonstrate its disdain for democracy by ignoring the Utah Independent Redistricting Committee. This map proves that Utah’s politicians care about only one political value, power.

We all voted to have an independent commission redraw these maps. These proposed maps are nothing like the ones that the commission created. And they gave you three options! This kind of blatant disregard for the citizens of Utah is disgusting. Please use the maps that the independent commission created. In addition to being nonpartisan, they had the courtesy to involve Utahns through the entire process, without any of this drawing maps, posting Friday evening and voting Monday morning garbage. Voters choose representatives, not the other way around.

This map divides my city across two districts. Appears to have happened to several other communities. Not even consistent with obvious geographic divisions, let alone community divisions. This also divides Salt Lake county across 4 different districts. Mixing rural and urban across every district is not a feasible way to fairly represent the varied interests of our state. I expect my interests in a heavily developed suburb to be very different than the interests of folks in small towns hundreds of miles away dependent on tourism and resource extraction to sustain their local economy. Even if there is interest in rural/urban combination, this could be done by regions closest to each other, rather than splitting from the middle of Salt Lake. Releasing this map so shortly before the official discussion of maps is planned to begin is also problematic. Why wouldn't this map deserve the same level of review and public scrutiny that other suggested maps have had?

This is a terrible-terrible-terrible map! These lines were obviously drawn to maximize a partisan advantage by those in power, not to best represent people in urban and rural communities—it's insulting to even suggest that as truth. Published on a Friday to be rushed through on Monday, I think that says it all. These districts DO NOT benefit the voters—not rural, not urban, nor anyone in between. With this map, representatives cannot actually be held accountable by voters at the ballot box–regardless of political persuasion–and will have little incentive to do their job: represent their constituents. All of their constituents! This shows partisan players picking their voters to give themselves the most uncompetitive races; this is the opposite of democracy and the opposite of what the people wanted and voted for in 2018. Please use one of the maps the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission have already recommended—nothing about this map represents any of their work. Tweak it slightly if you must, but this should've been their job from the start. Their impact was wrongly minimized into some farcical procedural committee for appearances only, holding no actual authority. An affront to the voters and to all Utahns!

This map is such a bad faith effort - the effect is nothing less than an attempt to steal elections. Absurd GERRYMANDERING. Splitting communities of interest including those of race. The intentions here are clear and its authors and anyone who votes for it should not be considered a believer in the principles of our republic.

There was a reason the people of Utah voted by referrendum to have an independent redistricting committee. First the Legislature waters down that request, then they flat out ignore the recommendations of the committee. It is beyond obvious what our "we don't even pretend to be listening" legislature is doing here. Salt Lake county is too large for a single congressional district and has a decided democratic tilt. Our overwhelmingly Republican legislature concludes that Salt Lake is so important that instead of having one representative that represents the bulk of our population center they should have four representatives who they disagree with on the most issues. Even the worst of the maps produced by the UIRC was better than this map. The excuse that nobody is without political bias is thin cover for letting the overtly partisan and "we have a vested interest in making sure that our party has the best chance to hold all the congressional seats - not to mention a vested interest in the boundaries for state legislative districts since we are the ones trying to hold on to our own seats in perpetuity" legislative committee just make their own map rather than ratify the work of the UIRC that the people of Utah asked to do this job. Thanks for nothing.

The only reason for splitting salt lake county four ways is so that the republican thugs can keep salt lake county from being able to choose their own representative. Can you say “GERRYMANDERING”.

I am a registered independent. I voted for the non partisan redistricting commission. Again my vote means nothing in this state. The maps that were drawn by the commission were excellent. This one by the legislature is horrible.

I am a registered independent. I voted for the non partisan redistricting commission. Again my vote means nothing in this state. The maps that were drawn by the commission were excellent. This one by the legislature is horrible.

Ever been to Four Corners in remote, southwestern Utah where you can stand in four different states? Astonishingly, this map comes very close to a Four Corners in the heart of Salt Lake County. Go get a shake at the Iceberg on 3900 S. & 900 E. and find yourself overlooking District 2, District 3, and District 4. Drive 5 minutes up the road to 2100 E., a few blocks shy of Olympus High, and find yourself at District 1. The very definition of gerrymandering. Who can possibly deny that it is a conflict of interest for incumbent legislators, regardless of party, to draw their own maps? Utahns voted for Prop 4 and the UIRC. We expect the transparent, fair, and independent work of the UIRC to be honored. The legislative map fails, intentionally and frustratingly, at keeping cities, counties, and communities of interest whole.

This map is so incredibly clearly gerrymandered that it is almost surprising (except it isn't because of course the legislature wants to pick their own voters). There is absolutely no reason to split salt lake into four different districts other than to dilute the voice of one of the largest communities with similar interests and needs in salt lake city. It is so annoying to live in a place that doesn't even pretend to allow your voice to mean anything

This map is such a ridiculous farce and can't even pretend to represent the people who live in the state. Splitting up cities and communities with incredibly similar needs is clearly just an attempt for those in power to choose their voters instead of respecting the will of the actual people of Utah who voted to have an independent committee to suggest maps to accurately represent all the people. This is so clearly an attempt to subvert the will of those who live in urban centers and is one of the reasons it is so embarrassing to live in utah.

This goes completely against what the voters passed in Prop 4. It is a blatant gerrymander meant to protect and expand Republican leadership in Utah. Shame on you!

I am 100% against this proposed map. The independent redistricting commission did a much better job than this. Elected leaders are much more concerned with their elections than they are about accurate representation. Look at what they did to Salt Lake County. That's not how you keep communities of interest together.

Pretty much the only positive I see about this map is that as a resident of the Avenues in SLC, I would no longer share a district with folks in St. George if this map were to be adopted. I do not say that to speak ill of St. George, its to point out how absolutely ridiculous this map is. If the Legislature is truly adamant about urban-rural split districts, a map reflecting those types of districts could easily be created without splitting SLCo into 4 different districts. There are urban areas in southern Utah that have much more in common with their rural "neighbors" than those who live in SLCo. The Independent Redistricting Committee has created maps that reflect that idea. Additionally, all this map will do is ensure that the majority of our US House members are from the Wasatch Front- similar to our current maps. That's truly unfair to the good Utahns south of Provo who deserve to have a member of Congress from their area of the state every once in a while. Urban-rural split districts in Utah have not often produced rural legislators. Just because a legislator represents a rural area does not mean he or she actually represent rural interests well. Are four safe Republican seats REALLY worth all the ire these maps draw from both urban and rural Utahns, and from both Republicans and Democrats? I had hope that the Legislative Redistricting Committee would listen to Utahns across the state and not continue to carve up SLCo, but clearly that hope was misplaced. This is so disappointing.

This is blatant gerrymandering. It's an obvious, pathetic, and sad attempt from Republicans to dilute the Democratic votes in Salt Lake County. Why should my city be split between two districts? How will that help anyone in my area? Why are my friends in West Valley in the same district as my family in St. George? How could that possibly be beneficial to either one? This is gross.

Shameful, disgracefully, partisan gerrymandering. Completely ignores the will of the majority of Utahns as expressed by the Prop 4 vote. Makes a mockery of the will of the people and the voter proposition system in Utah.

Why are the maps from the independent commission completely discarded? There is no reason that my city should be separated into 4 separate congressional districts.

The entire premise behind this map is wrong. The idea that each district should be representative of the majority of the entire state is not the correct underlying principle. The four districts should be divided in such a way so the entire delegation represents the political makeup of the state, and should respect distinct communities and logical divisions. This map does neither. In fact, the only thing that this map does is ensure that the entire utah congressional delegation represents about 60% of the population (pew research center). The people of Utah voted to have an independent redistricting commission in order to avoid this kind of blatant power grab. The lack of respect for the people of Utah evident in this map is unacceptable.

This is blatant gerrymandering. This is not what we voted for in 2018.

This map, if adopted, leaves ~1M voters in Utah without U.S. congressional representation. Its just a slap in the face to Utah Voters who told the legislature to draw fair maps. It disenfranchises Utah voters who see the UT Legislature as the Republican Party First and Voter Last.

Why is SLC split into multiple districts? I would think a city and geographical area should be in its own district. Gerrymandering for the republicans?

Maps are drawn to dilute the deomocratic voters. We will be leaving this state and taking our educations and earning power with us. I will not sacrifice my health and my childrens while republicans spend tax money to make pollution worse and spray toxic mosquitoe repellant over us all. This state has become a joke.

This is an atrocity of a map. Absolutely terrible. Talk about disenfranchisement. Whoever drew this deserves to burn in Hell and get kicked out any religion they happen to belong to.

I'm confused. I thought they used an independent and well-informed group to draw the districts to make it fair. This looks like they drew 4 districts with a little portion of urban and/or Democratic areas to ensure each district is dominated by rural Republican voters. Isn't that what they were trying to avoid? Gerrymandering? It just doesn't seem to reflect what we've been hearing in the news for all these months.

I've been a Republican all my life, until last year. I've been comfortable joining my moderate voice with that party until recently. These maps are blatant gerrymandering, and I'm disappointed in the Utah Republican legislators for creating them. Please approve of the maps submitted by the Independent Redistricting Commission. They are far closer to fair and impartial. They do not divide cities and school districts into so many areas that communities of shared interest see their voices diluted. If you are concerned about gerrymandering in Democrat-leaning states, you should be concerned about it here, because this is the same dishonest, unfair kind of work. Show integrity, even if it means losing some of your "safe" areas. We expect better of Utah legislators. We voters expect you to listen to the voice of the people, not suppress it for your own advantage.

As a registered Republican I find these proposed districts insulting. Utah Legislative Republicans claim to want fair elections, yet continue to minimize the voice of urban and suburban voters by drowning their votes in a sea of rural voters. These districts blatantly ignore the work of the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission and are an insult to voters who approved the creation of the commission. Furthermore, the release of these district maps on a Friday night with only a single day of public comment is completely unacceptable. Apparently Utah Republicans only consider elections in which they are guaranteed to win as "fair". Stop the gerrymandering and give the voters what they asked for. Independently drawn district maps.

Hard to see how this map serves anyone who isn't running as an incumbent congressman. Make the IRC mean something. Use their maps.

These congressional maps are blatantly gerrymandered. We voted for an independent commission to provide fair maps. Salt Lake County should not be in four congressional districts, you've managed to INCREASE the three we have now thus diluting our voting power further. I'm furious. It's ridiculously clear RedistrictUtah cares nothing for the voter's demand to have fair districts.

This map does not work in favor of the people. How do you expect a congress member to properly represent their district when you have, for example, West Valley City, Monticello, and St. George in one district? The people of Utah voted for the UIRC and this completely ignores the work of that committee.

You are bad people and should feel ashamed of yourselves for the plan you want to go forward with this. it's very obvious what the intention of these maps are, and thats to make it so that no Democrat can possibly get elected again, even though 30% of people in utah lean that way. Disgusting.

These maps are horrible. I live in West Valley, yet have been placed into the 4th district with many rural areas, while the rest of my city has been placed in the second district. I do not agree with the idea of urban/rural mix districts. I currently live in the 2nd Congressional District, and Rep Stewart has never shown any indication of having any concern for the concerns of Salt Lake County. Clearly, this approach has not resulted in fair representation in the past, and WILL NOT give fair representation in the future. Please avoid any unnecessary division of Salt Lake County in order to dilute the urban vote. PLEASE GIVE US FAIR REPRESENTATION.

This map is horrible. I can't believe anyone could propose this with a straight face. Just say you want to gerrymander the state to ensure that you can continue to put 4 urban Republicans in congress. The big lie here is that you care about rural Utah. This map makes it so no one ever has to consider rural Utah at all. It will ensure we elect 4 people from the Wasatch front off the backs of rural votes. Where do the 4 current reps come from? SLC, SLC, Provo, and Farmington. What great rural representation. Rural Utah should be disgusted by this map as much as anyone.

You are going to take care of the gerrymandering by GERRYMANDERING MORE?!!!!! Instead of carving up the Salt Lake area into 3 pieces, now you're carving it up into 4?!!!!!! I am furious. You release these maps on a Friday night and give 3 days including the weekend to give comments? This, and this map, is outrageous and ignores giving 80% of the population along the Wasatch Front even one small voice. You couldn't even throw non-Republicans one small bone, could you? I am so sick and tired of not having my voice represented in this state and I am not alone. I hope you guys get slammed for this travesty of completely ignoring the independent commission's recommendations and your crummy tactics of releasing these maps.

This map is absurd. There is no reason to carve up Salt Lake County like this except to gerrymander the state in favor of Republican candidates. The given reasoning--to represent rural and urban Utahns in the same district--is dubious. At any rate, it is not worth abusing the redistricting process for such an outcome. Voters have voted in favor of a nonpartisan map, and this is not it.

The Committee Chairs congressional map subverts the will of the people by rejecting the work of the Independent Redistricting Committee which the people voted to create. The map places rural interests ahead of suburban and rural interests, and it places the interests of Salt Lake County residents below those of other Utahns. This map should be rejected by the legislature, and the Legislature should adopt a map prepared by the Independent Redistricting Committee.

Shameful! And yes, I am a Republican.

Outrageous gerrymander clearly intending to overrule the will of the voters who chose an independent commission to draw fair maps. Underscores the current Republican disdain for democracy, legitimacy, and the wishes of their constituents. A disgusting farce.

This map was not prepared by the independent redistricting committee that we voted on. This is another gerrymandering effort by the people we voted for. We MUST vote for people who will represent us! This map is proof we are not being listened to or represented.

This map is not inline with the map that was drawn by the independent commission that was voted for by the people of Utah. Please update it to those of the independent commission as that was the will of the voters. If you do not, I hope that Governor Cox vetoes any map not drawn by the committee that was created by the will of Utah voters, and not elected officials trying to keep themselves in power. None of these maps allow for proper representation of Salt Lake County and are trying to dilute any Democrat voice in our state. Rural and Urban Utah do not have the same needs and their voices need to be unique not smashed together artificially.

These maps are the very epitome of GERRYMANDERING. There is absolutely no reason to split Salt Lake County into four districts. Further there is no need to split any other county in to two. At best a portion of Salt Lake County needed to be split into another district. Those drawing the maps have willfully disregarded the will the residents of Utah who voted for an independent redistricting committee. Paul and Sandall reasoning is disgusting.

Clear gerrymandering to split SLCo 4 ways. The IRC maps were all preferable. Legislators saying rural & urban have to mix is counter to representing people for their communities of interest. Keep SLCo in 2 districts. Pay attention to your constituents.

These maps are a gerrymandered joke. The comment that we are all one Utah is a slap in the face trying to whitewash this clearly partisan map. This is exactly why the citizens voted for a independent commission that was promptly neutered. There is no reason that major population centers should be lumped in with towns hundreds of miles away with nothing in common. There is no way a representative can serve the interests of both areas effectively. You end up with one sided representation that makes no one happy. Use the maps the commission came up with, not ones designed to dilute the votes of voters you don't like. I'm tired of being punished by the legislature for not having the same mindset as them.

As a lifelong member of the GOP, I am frankly disgusted with our legislature. They complain about the commission, then come out with a map to make gerrymandering seem reasonable. I will no longer vote for my own Rep, the honorable Mr Brad Wilson. I will vote for an independent, or hold my nose and vote Dem in the upcoming election.

I feel this map demonstrates the concerns of Utah in having a Proposition for an independent commission. Cities are split and communities of interest are divided. All of the standards the Independent Commission followed appear ignored here. Please use their maps and follow the will of the people.

This map splits neighbors and is a horrible solution to redistricting. It doesn't make sense. The maps proposed by the independent commission were far better at being fair and making sense.

I do not feel as though this map gives fair representation to the people of UT. I do not endorse this map. I hope that Governor Cox and the UT State legislature does not approve this map.

This map is a slap in the face to Utahns who voted for an independent commission. It's a disgrace compared to the maps that the Independent Redistricting Commission drafted that are fair and aren't gerrymandered to hell and back. I mean - St George and Salt Lake City in the same district? Ridiculous. Utah should be leading the country in leaving behind the disgraceful practice of gerrymandering, not doubling down on it when it's already a red state.

Why can't the entire east side of salt lake county be one unified district? Please keep neighborhoods together.

It makes no sense for me to be in the same district as St. George when I live in downtown SLC. This is ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a terrible map made just to gerrymander and keep Republicans in power. Don't split up Salt Lake City or Salt Lake County 4 ways! This is terrible and should be illegal. Why doesn't the legislature listen to the referendum we passed? We don't want any gerrymandering in Utah.

This map is designed to ensure that government of Republicans, by Republicans, for Republicans shall not perish from this State. The Independent Commission maps kept areas with common issues (i.e., rural vs. urban) together. They are much more fair and representative.

I strongly reject this proposed map that splits Sal Lake City in to 4 different districts. It's true what the late Tom Hofeller said: “I define redistricting as the only legalized form of vote-stealing left in the United States today.” The legislature is rejecting the will of the people when they voted for an independent commission to draw maps for the redistricting effort. Instead, they are picking their voters by roping in rural Utah and drawing and literally quartering Salt Lake City. UIRC did a phenomenal job detailing their process and making it as fair as possible. I strongly urge that one of their maps be used instead of this blatant gerrymandering.

The whole point of the independent commission was to prevent gerrymandering. When comparing their maps to this, this is obvious gerrymandering. For shame.

Given how similar this map is in intent to our current districts, it's dishonest to claim - as Sandall and Ray have - that this reflects the will of Utah voters. We voted to change how redistricting is done. We voted to make it easier to hold our representatives to account by reducing their ability to pick their voters. We voted to make sure that everyone in the state got a voice - not just rural constituencies. Our legislators lie and betray their oaths when they claim to do what voters want, and then push solutions on us that we've already rejected.

Use the maps from the UIRC please. As far as I am concerned, nobody who currently sits in a house or senate seat or plans to run in upcoming elections should have anything to do with this process. You don’t get to cherry pick your voters in a free democratic election. This is why the people of UT don’t trust any of you in legislative leadership because you do things like this to break our trust. I vote for you to use the UIRC maps or bust!

The Utah GOP is not the party of Lincoln. They will suppress any ideas that are not in complete agreement with their own, which is exactly the opposite of Lincoln's tactics. He had the confidence to listen to opposing arguments because he was a Statesman. The GOP members are weak politicians who resort to underhanded tactics (such as releasing their map at 10 pm on a Friday night) to preserve their power in the House. Sadly, those of us who are moderate were not surprised that the 87% majority party would throw out the efforts of the redistricting committee. Rob Bishop's resignation was pure theatrics to stir up the base of Utah's GOP. (Heaven forbid one of our 4 congressman may be a Democrat!) It was a blatant tactic called fearmongering, a GOP specialty. The "STEAL OF THE CENTURY" didn't occur in the 2020 presidential election. It has occurred over the past 10 years of Utah's Congressional elections, and will continue to occur for the next 10 years if the weak Republicans in the Utah legislature have their way.

I disapprove of the legislative maps. Utahns voted for an independent committee for a reason. The map options that group created are far better than this highly political one. I urge lawmakers to reject this map in favor of one from the independent commission. Anything less ignores the will or the people and does not represent the different views of the state's voters.

As a longtime Utah resident, this map is about what I expected. Another attempt to silence my voice by diluting it with voters with whom I have nothing in common and the Utah legislature choosing its own voters to stay in power. But we knew from the start of this charade that the legislature would ignore the IRC recommendations. Business as usual in Utah. Just get used to it!

This map is the epitome of gerrymandering to keep the republicans 100% in control. The references to Utah being a rural state and that rural interests must be represented is ridiculous. Representatives represent PEOPLE not Land. Yes, there is a lot of open spaces in the state, but 80% of the population lives along the urban Wasatch Front.....and a significant portion of that population's interests have not been represented in a long time. It's really simple - SL county's population should NOT be split into 4 districts in order to dilute the will of the people. Around 30% of the state votes Democratic. Is it too much to ask that 1 of the 4 representative actually represent this constituency? Voters voted for an independent commission to redraw the maps, not the same political leaders who are not willing to cede a fraction of their absolute power. Please vote this map down and adopt the fairer map put forward by the independent commission - the commission voted on by The People and that puts people over the silly notion that rural land needs more representation.

This proposed map does dilutes the representation of both the rural and urban areas. By splitting the population core 4 ways this inherently dilutes the voice of the rural areas versus the rural areas being grouped together. This is a difficult problem, but I do not feel that those issues facing St. George and southern Utah are similar in nature to those in Layton. I do feel that the map proposed by the Independent board do a better job in providing a cohesive voice for Utah and the unique issues faced by those around the state.

This map is an embarrassment. Utah voters made their desire known when the Independent Redistricting council was approved. It’s on the UTLeg to use those maps, instead of further partisanship that this map reflects

Convenient for this proposed map to split SLC into 4 separate districts, almost as if this proposed plan ignores the recommendations of an independent council designed to stop gerrymandering. Stop pretending this plan isn't complete gerrymandering and start acting like a true American. If you want to win someone's votes then campaign and work for their trust, don't rig the system. The Utah legislature continues to be two-faced and corrupt, you know what should happen, the question now remains whether or not you will do it.

Gerrymandering. This looks nothing like the maps drawn by the independent commission! This map splits communities in SLC in order to water down votes and maintain Republican power. It goes against what voters asked for when they insisted on an independent commission and a non-partisan process.

The manner in which district three swings down to pick up conservative votes in Provo, splits Park City and includes Moab (two relatively moderate/left leaning areas) is quite clearly proof that this is gerrymandered. If you wanted to legitimately have rural voices considered, then you would have included Moab with other southern Utah localities, which have similar interests in regards to mining and water resources. This map splits the west side of Salt Lake, where a majority of the state's minority population reside, into two districts. Representatives from those districts will not be able to understand the concerns of these groups when their districts are mostly white and rural, and will not advocate on behalf of minority communities. Mr. Sandall's comments that urban Utah owes a lot to rural Utah because we get our food, water and energy from rural Utah is absolutely preposterous. The major crop grown in Utah is hay which is exported. Rural Utah receives water from snowpack, much of which comes from the Wasatch, where major metropolitan areas are located, and which need to divert a lot of water to accommodate rural Utah. And the energy produced is primarily coal, while Salt Lake residents would prefer renewable energy. So essentially, rural Utah grows food we don't eat, diverts our water, and produces energy we don't want. This is appalling. You've absolutely ignored the demands of the people who asked for an independent commission to draw fair boundaries, and you've ignored that commission. entirely.

No! No! No! This map is pure junk! I realize that is nearly impossible to keep all cities and counties together but at least make it look like you tried. The real loser of this map is Millcreek which is split unnecessarily into all four districts. From what I saw, the IRC map splits only 2 counties (Salt Lake and Sanpete) and only 2 cities (West Valley and SLC) while the joke that was presented by Rep. Sandall and Rep. Ray splits 5 counties (including SL 4 ways) and 13 cities/communities. In this state if you have to split a city or county into more than two separate districts, it is gerrymandering. I call on the Legislature to reject this map and adopt the IRC map that doesn't split up nearly as many communities.

This committee is a complete waste and this map is blatant gerrymandering. Democrats in this state need to start registering as Republican and mess this party up from within.

Throughout this whole process I have been waiting for the legislature to swoop in at the last minute and create a map designed to neutralize progressive voters by splitting neighborhoods and lumping together wildly different parts of the state. If the legislature does implement this map, they should add a rider to the legislation renaming 3900 S in SLC "Gerrymander Blvd." The only way not to be disappointed in the legislature is to have subterranean expectations.

Splitting a single county 4 times is ridiculous. The people of SLCO deserve a voice just as much as the rest of the state. This map completely disregards communities of interest and diminishes the quality of representation for all utahns

Adopting this map sends a clear message to every one in Utah: that those who vote for it have decided that amassing power through gerrymandering is more important than listening to their constituents. This ignores the majority of Utahns who have asked for fair maps. This ignores those asking for their communities to not be divided. This map ignores the differences rural and urban communities request from their representatives. Having kept up with the open and honest progress of the UIRC used to draw their districts, it's shocking to see a map that so blatantly ignores any sense of decency or fairness.

I respectfully ask the legislature to trust the work of the independent redistricting commission and adopt one of their maps. The legislative committee's map clearly separates the core urban core of the state, combining these areas with areas of the state with wildly different representational needs. Though the legislative's committee rationale that all districts should have both rural and urban representation, the independent committee's maps still do this by keeping geographically close urban/rural areas together. This isn't great for either urban or rural residents, it's only serving the political needs of incumbent representatives. The market has decided, stop the government overreach on this process!

According to these maps I will live in one district, my grocery store that is three minutes down the road is in another district, and my 10 minute drive to work will take me into yet another district and my partner's drive to work will take him into another district entirely. If these maps are adopted our daily lives will be divided between all 4 districts. This is not how you represent people. This is how you suppress them to achieve an outcome that solidifies your own power. These maps do not represent a commitment to democracy and reveal that the legislature has no care for the needs of their constituents - they only care about keeping themselves in power.

I live in Downtown Salt Lake City and a 30-minute walk from The Capitol. Downtown SLC needs and concerns regarding infrastructure, light rail/public transportation, and affordable housing are completely different from rural areas like Woodruff, Garden City (Bear Lake), and Coalville just to name a few. In 2018, I voted for the Independent Redistricting because it meant more equal, data-driven congressional maps that more fairly represent all populations, and this map does not achieve any of these goals. This map clearly disenfranchises Salt Lake City voters by splitting the city into four districts and grouping them with extremely rural areas with completely different needs.

This proposed map that the legislature has proposed is completely unacceptable. I believe the maps provided by the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission give all communities fair representation in government. Redistricting is a difficult and unsolvable problem as there are innumerable ways to split up the population. To have as practical as possible impartially drawn maps that consider the different values and lifestyles of communities and then give them proper representation is at the heart of functional government for the people. To have the winners of the last election use this important process to only cement their control over the government in opposition to proper representation is antithetical to our countries founding principles.

This map splits my neighborhood into two and yet keeps me with southern Utah 300+ miles away. How is that keeping communities of interest together? This is a disgustingly cynical attempt to divide SLC and, once again, totally ignore the will of the people who clearly voted for independent redistricting.

This map is not what the Prop 4 envisioned. and is not what the citizens voted for. It does not follow the guidelines and is clearly jerrymandering. Once again splitting up Salt Lake City 4 ways. Any of the IRDC maps are better than this. Use the recommendations of the commission which is what Prop 4 intended. Of course you have no accountability because you negotiated having to explain your position from the original intent. Why is there no accountability? Because Republicans are a super majority and want to keep it that way. No belief in real democracy. Shame on you.

Sadly I'm not surprised by the legislator's blatant gerrymandering of the redistricting process. Why even have an impartial committee when this will always be the result. Legislators are there for the people not for their own agendas. You're oppressing the voices of the people of Utah. This is extremely undemocratic, Utah is evolving and so should you.

Clear, shameful gerrymandering! Please uphold your responsibility to democracy by using the maps of the independent redistricting committee!

Use the map that the independent district committee came up with. You don't get to chose your voters the voters chose you. Quit trying to subvert democracy!

This map literally splits my neighborhood in half. The only honest reading here is a blatantly partisan attempt to disenfranchise voters in Salt Lake City. We deserve so much better than this.

I cannot fathom how a congressional district in my home of Sugarhouse should include Monticello, Kanab, Cedar City, and St. George. The needs of those cities are not the needs of my neighbors who live blocks away, which are somehow in completely separate districts! Kanab and Cedar City have no right to give input on what is right for Salt Lake City!!

These maps are an outrage. I fully expected this behavior from our legislature. You got fair maps from the independent committee. Use them! That isn't a request! Those are your options, you don't get to select your voters! You know that even proposing these maps is immoral, and corrupt! Use the independent committee's maps!

This map is meant to gerrymander. Please have more respect for our electorate. This is a clear attempt to pit rural vs urban. There is a better way to make the map better represent like vs like. Poor voters in Salt Lake won't get anyone who represents them.

This proposed map is ridiculous. How will we in SLC have representation if we are lumped in with rural areas? This is a blatant attempt to silence the voice of SLC residents. This is clear gerrymandering.

This map doesn't make sense. Splitting up communities is not good representation. We don't need districts that have both urban and rural areas. We need districts that represent people. Salt Lake does not need to be divided four ways.

The proposed maps by Utah Legislatures is not fair and very gerrymandered. Please use the maps the independent commission presented that the voters of Utah asked for in the referendum. This is very disappointing and frustrating that the legislature continues to disenfranchise Utahns by not actually listening to them.

Gerrymandering is not good for the state. I prefer the non-partisan map that the voters asked for.

These maps are egregious, blatantly attempting to gerrymander Utah as much as possible to keep control of your power. People in Kanab and Millard have very different needs than people in Salt Lake. Claiming you're doing them a favor and claiming "we get food and water" from these areas is a joke. Unless humans started eating alfalfa, most Utahns food is coming from out of state. Continued voter suppression, continuing to ignore the people's votes like this and other ballot initiatives, the GOP and the stranglehold our legislatures have on this state is sickening. Adopt the Independent Commission's maps, they are at least not blatantly gerrymandered.

This map feels extremely poorly put together when compared with the independent redistricting committee maps. It does not appear to take anything into account except attempting to force a portion of the most urban and most rural areas to be included in each district. There does not appear to be any attempt to make sure that relevant boundaries (such as cities or neighborhoods) are accounted for in any way. Additionally the statement made by Sen. Sandall that the committee "believe[s] both urban and rural interests should be represented in Washington, D.C., by the entire federal delegation" leads to two potential outcomes: either one set of interests is truly represented and the other is largely ignored, or the representative tries to appease everyone and only half (or less) of the district is actually happy with their representation at any given time (for example see the approval/disapproval of Senators Romney and Lee). I wholeheartedly agree that the delegation from Utah should represent urban and rural interests, but forcing each delegate to constantly choose between sometimes drastically different viewpoints is unfair to them and the people they represent when Utah has enough delegates available to represent all views. Even when one party has a majority, it doesn't mean the other does not deserve to be represented or heard. I think everyone would prefer to feel like their voice isn't going to be diluted by a large population who lives hundreds of miles from them in a community quite different from their own, which admittedly can't be done perfectly, but it can certainly be done better than this.

How is including my part of Salt Lake City, Liberty Wells, with voters from Idapah fair representation? In 2018 a majority of voters in Utah requested that district boundaries be drawn to minimize splitting communities. Instead the legislature proposed map seems to maximize splitting of Salt Lake city and county. Regardless of whether this was intentional partisanship or not, this appears like blatant gerrymander and willful disregard for the interests of the majority of Utahns. The legislature did the easy thing by attempting to retain existing seats and representatives as much as possible. I can understand the appeal of this. It is not, however, the right thing to do nor is it the courageous thing to do. The right thing to do, the admittedly hard thing to do, is to respect the will of the majority of voters in Utah and implement one of the UIRC drawn maps that have drawn praise from across the country. Please reconsider the proposed legislature map and rely on the good work done by the UIRC.

This map is another example of: (1) legislators choosing their voters, instead of the other way around; (2) overriding the will of the people who voted for an independent process; and (3) dividing neighborhoods and communities against themselves. Choose one of the maps drawn independently! Neighborhoods and communities need not be split as Ray's map proposes.

Salt Lake County should span no more than two districts. What is wrong with the people of Utah that we keep voting the same power-seeking, people-ignoring state legislators into office? If you want your voice heard start by voting out the idiots. Hopefully this map will be a wake-up call, but we need to remember this for a full year until the elections next November.

This is yet another effort by the legislature to disenfranchise Salt Lake City voters. The State of Utah is about 35 percent progressive and Democratic, yet the legislature once again draws maps that make sure we have no representation in the House of Representatives. And there is no one to advocate for the needs and interests of those of us who live in urban parts of the Wasatch Front. Every district has a rural majority. Every district has a white majority. And every district has an LDS majority. Power corrupts and this is proof.

I strongly disagree with the proposed maps. A congressional district covering the contiguous Wasatch Front is the only ethic/moral solution. The idea of combining rural and urban districts is a poor one.

This is ridiculous. Leave it to Utah leaders to disregard any independent input and go for the gerrymandered power grab. My interests may be different than someone living in rural Utah--and that's OK! And that's also why it should also be OK for us to have different representatives to speak for us.

Salt Lake being split four ways? This is NOT what we voted for. And to release the map on a Friday afternoon?!? You're not even TRYING to hide how corrupt you are. Salt Lake County should NOT be split four ways. That's blatant gerrymandering. I'm so disgusted right now. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. We voted for an independent redistricting committee. And you watered down their power and then completely ignored them. You're all so gross.

What a complete slap in the face to Utah's voters. We wanted an independent redistricting committee to attempt to limit the influence of party politics. This is the exact opposite!

This map is a complete abomination and a complete joke. I don't know what delusional reality the authors of this map live in but I have nothing in common with the interest of people in rural Utah and none of my food and water come from those sources. I don't know when's the last time Rep. Ray and Sen. Sandall step foot in a grocery store but this absolutely does not take in the interest of all Utahns and actually spits in the face of a sizable portion of them. Adopt one of the commission maps which actually make sense. Imagine if Denver and Portland were split this way, it would be blatant gerrymander.

Speaking to local interests alone, this map is horribly destructive to communities of interest within my newly-proposed District 3. Provo, the county seat, should not be cut off from the rest of Utah county, especially its highest-growth corridor west of I-15. Lehi and Springville should not be cut in half, nor should Saratoga Springs and Spanish Fork be cut off from their like-minded neighbors. Utah County has voted overwhelmingly conservative for years, only to be cut-off and partially connected to Park City? Not to mention disrupting the western edge of Utah's largest Native American reservation, the Uintah-Ouray Reservation, and separating it from the Navajo and White Mesa reservations in Southeastern Utah. Splitting the Native population centers of Utah into different Congressional districts is harmful to our communities and overall district cohesion. Looking to Salt Lake County, the legislature's argument that this map preserves any communities is laughable. It cuts cities, neighborhoods, and even city blocks off from each other into all four districts. Most of the county won't even receive a plurality of representation in 3/4 of the congressional districts that have been anchored on large cities outside the county (Ogden metro, St. George metro, and Provo/Orem core). The best-represented part of Salt Lake County, District 4, is still outnumbered by fast-growing Utah County and Juab/Sanpete. St. George specifically requested to not be grouped with any part of Salt Lake City, and got an a nearly-identical map with Southeastern Utah tacked-on. This map is truly a disaster for any Utahn wanting community cohesion or even just adequate county representation.

Why even have the independent commission if you're just going to ignore their proposals? This is blatant gerrymandering. I'm an Independent. Was a republican until last year, and this is the type of thing that is driving me and many of my fellow conservatives away from the GOP!

This map is deeply offensive to the people of Utah.

This map seems to be the perfect way to raise the middle finger to the citizens of this state that CLEARLY expressed a lack of trust that you could accurately represent their interests. Honestly I find myself asking if it would be possible to make a map that more unequivocally benefits the Republican Party interests at the expense of all others. As an unaffiliated voter, your blatant disregard for what the citizens of this state wanted to get from the appointment of the Independent Redistricting Commission angers and frustrates me. At every turn you seem to meet our worst expectations and continuously chisel away at public trust of our government institutions. Absolutely despicable.

The Senate exists to represent statewide interests and to protect a diversity of state types. Congress is to represent people in a manner roughly representative of actual demographics. To do otherwise is deeply unconstitutional and really, immoral. Rise above your petty, power-hungry instincts and do something good for America.

Dividing Salt Lake City into two districts and Salt Lake County into four is a blatant attempt to reduce the political voice of urban and/or Democratic voters. I challenge you to make public the total number of public comments you received in all your hearings around the state, and of that total how many comments endorsed the idea of having ALL districts combine urban and rural voters? The Independent Redistricting Commission reported that many rural voters also did not like being linked with urban interests. You have made a mockery of "community of interests." That the IRC's Congressional maps, drawn without using political data, were more favorable to Democratic voters is logical since the total of such voters and their geographic concentration justifies at least one Democrat-leaning district among four.

This is ridiculous! This is the gerrymandering Utah VOTERS voted against by voting to have the independent redistricting commission. This map is politicians picking their constituents, instead of voters being able to fairly choose their politicians. Shame on the Legislators who "designed" this ridiculous map. My neighborhood in Salt Lake is divided up, and my urban family is thrown in with ranchers, farmers and rural voters who have entirely different needs than those of us in urban areas. The Independent Commission came up with much better ways of dividing the districts so that urban and rural needs would have better representation. I am thoroughly disgusted by what the Republican legislature has presented, and I am a registered Republican. These boundaries in no way "best represent the diverse interests of the people we were elected to represent", they best represent certain politicians trying to keep their power, instead of trying to represent their constituents.

Shameless and blatant Gerrymandering! Does our wildly lopsided and unrepresentative legislature truly have so little shame and so much lust for power?

This is a totally arbitrary and hurtful way to divide up communities. If elected leaders actually worked to lead and unite on issues rather than picking sides and being intentionally divisive, as depicted on these maps, we’d be much better off. Work to understand communities, stop dividing. Multiple perspectives are healthy.

I can climb on my roof and see all four congressional districts...

Restore faith in government and reject this partisan gerrymander. Choose one of the maps from the independent committee. Prove that democracy is more important to you than 1 competitive Congressional seat.

Spending so much money on an independent redistricting process seems pretty senseless when the legislature had its mind made up on a terrible map like this that disregards overwhelming public input. The public voted for Prop 4, the overwhelming comments by the public on this map and at every hearing have been negative towards the legislature and positive toward the redistricting committee. Listen.

Under the proposed map, my neighbors (six doors away) are in a different Congressional district, then three blocks to the east the boundaries shift again and then yet again, so we can stop pretending that there was any attempt to balance shared interests during legislative redistricting. Our energy would be better spent amending the Utah Constitution to reflect the needs and will of it’s citizens, without compromise or empty agreements.

This map does not have a fair balance between rural and urban and splitting Salt Lake County between the 4 districts does not help at all with representation. You should adopt the independent commissions SH2 map as that does a better job of balancing urban and rural communities.

This map is terrible. It is exactly what we were trying to get rid of when WE THE VOTERS voted to have an INDEPENDENT COMMISSION draw these maps. Please DO NOT APPROVE this map. Utah can do better, and the representatives should listen to the voters.

Clearly not what we voted for in passing the IRC proposition. This map puts the needs of national parties over your constituents.

This map should be thrown out. It is an obvious attempt at gerrymandering Salt Lake County. Splitting the county into four districts is completely unnecessary. It should be split into two at the most if necessary. Utah voted to have an independent redistricting committee create fair maps with fair representation. Why are you disregarding the people of Utah? Listen to the voters and use the independent maps.

How are my interests aligned with those of residents in Tooele, Cedar City, St. George, Ticaboo, Kanab, Monticello, etc.?

I am absolutely disgusted by this map!! Whenever I think the Utah legislator can't sink any lower I'm constantly proven wrong. This is a clear example of gerrymandering at its finest! There should be NO reason to have SL County divided up into 4 districts. What concerns do residents of SLC have in common verses those in Vernal, Manti, St. George have in common? NOTHING! Please trash this map and go back to those proposed by the independent commission. At least those maps were not drawn with the sole purpose to disenfranchise voters and to keep a certain political party in complete power.

This is a joke and will end up in court. How much money does Utah need to spend on frivolous lawsuits and this junk to support the GOP.

It is disappointing to see the City of Millcreek, with a population of ~62k, split into four different districts. Please reconsider the IRC's maps, or at least try to group similar communities together. The majority of Utahns wanted the IRC to have input in this process, and it seems that their maps and suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.

Utah Republicans have once again demonstrated with their actions they are committed to the twin principles of corruption and racism and little else. The proposed congressional map makes this point in as direct a manner as I have ever seen. The UIRC conducted a fair and impartial process--that must be respected. Unfortunately Republican like Scott Sandall and Representative Ray have demonstrated with their actions that they have been bargaining in bad faith all along. Both have also demonstrated with their actions the depths of their own racism. Both me clearly believe their humanity and the humanity of people who look like them matters more than the humanity of people who don't look like them. Sandall's laughable claims that the map attempts to evenly balance the interests of rural and urban Utah is a transparent attempt to use coded racist language. Racism has been declared a sin by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and it is disappointing to see two of the most prominent legislative leaders in our State go against these teachings. Looking at these maps, its obvious to me why it took an independent Justice Department investigation to reveal the depths of Utah's race problem in Davis County. Obviously the same problem exists throughout our State.

This is blatant gerrymandering. The interests of the proposed districts are not aligned, this makes no sense besides your thinly veiled attempt to suppress the votes of people living in Salt Lake County.

Smells like gerrymandering to me Utah, but hey who are we kidding? It's not about what's best for the people but what's best for the party. Obviously my concerns as a voter are the same as someone living in Banding, a 5 1/2 hour drive away.

I want to know why Salt Lake County was split into 4 pieces. Anyone with even a casual idea of Utah demographics could see that you are trying to split apart the liberal-leaning segments of this state. The current districts are bad enough, but you have managed to make it worse. If your argument is that each district should have portions of rural and urban, please show me where, in the mission statement of this committee, where that is stated. Our representatives should reflect the makeup of our state's citizens, not the desired makeup of the ruling party.

This map shamelessly gerrymanders Salt Lake City out of existence. The people voted for an independent redistricting commission and this flies in the face of that initiative.

Utah votes to set up UIRC in 2018, in 2021 their map is instantly rejected. Sen. Scott Sandall asserted "no one is immune" to political bias whenever "we put a line on a map." (KSL article). Agreed everybody has bias, but tell me who has less bias... two GOP representatives or a bipartisan group composed of seven commissioners – appointed by both Democratic and Republican party leaders – with the chair appointed by Utah’s governor. Also, the UIRC, to avoid conflicts of interest, Commissioners cannot be lobbyists, elected officials, political party leaders, or executive appointees. Now tell me you have less bias than that... I look forward to voting against you in future elections as you have very plainly demonstrated you do not care what the voters of Utah decide.

There are households within 2 miles of each other that will be in four different districts. This clearly goes against the philosophy of maintaining "communities of interest" when drawing congressional districts. Frankly, this map is an absolute joke.

I'm not sure why the members of the Utah House of Representatives don't understand that our congressmen and women are supposed to represent the interest of their district, not the state. There's no need to have an even split of urban and rural population in each district. When they do this, our representatives can't truly advocate for their district when they have to balance rural and urban needs when the priorities of the two are often very different.

I thought the Independent Commission's work was fair, balanced, and representative of the diversity of Utah, in terms of geography, rural vs. urban, and keeping communities of interest together, among other things. The Utah Legislature Redistricting Committee's proposal is the exact opposite. Dividing Salt Lake County among each of the four congressional districts? I thought that it was a joke when I first read about it. I cannot believe that experienced legislators who are tasked with producing defensible maps actually released this horrible example of a miscarriage of justice. Talk about allowing legislators to pick their voters, rather than allowing the voters to pick them!!!!! Non-Republican voters compose up to (and sometimes a little more) than a quarter of the state's population. The disenfranchisement of non-Republicans is quite brazen. I would have expected this map to come out of states famous for gerrymandering, and expected much better from Utah. Is this an example of the vaunted "Utah Way" that is often used to described diverse groups coming together to develop a balanced and fair compromise? Does the "Utah Way" now incorporate partisan hacks adopting excessively unfair gerrymandered districts? This plan smacks of the work of other states, which proponents of the "Utah Way" in other legislative matters describe as Utah being an example for the nation. Take this congressional map proposal from the Committee and trash it! You don't have to start drawing the map from scratch. The Independent Commission did great work -- why doesn't the Committee simply start with one of the Commission's maps -- or all three of them, and debate which one is best. Please, legislators, trash the proposed Committee map!!!!! You can do so much better for our state!!!!!

This map is stupid and the legislature knows it. That's why it was quietly released at 10 pm on a Friday night and only allowing the weekend for the public to comment on it before the cowardly legislature will, undoubtedly, ratify it and pat themselves on the back for ignoring the people's wishes yet again. The Utah legislature has embraced California tactics with it's politics and redistricting strategy.

This is a disgrace by epic proportion. Salt Lake County deserves representation and not be split into four districts to dilute the more diverse and Democratic-leaning populations. Specifically, this is a racist map because it seeks to dilute the minority populations living in the County. It also splits a neighborhood into four districts. You can literally walk a few blocks and you've crossed all four districts. What about the independent commission and the fair maps it drew based on people's feedback? Are you throwing those in the trash, and we those, all the money spent to draw them? I'm sick and tired of this lack of respect and representation. Utah politicians need to serve all residents, not just the GOP majority. This map is an insult to democracy and decency.

This map is unacceptable. Given the clearly superior UIRC map using this map will send a clear, anti-democratic message. Please do not accept this map. Use the UIRC map.

This map isn't about bridging urban/rural divides or keeping communities together. You can see at every dividing line a choice to keep people apart and ensure they have little to no voice in the process of government. I don't know why I expected more than this.

Yall didn't even try to hide the blatant disregard for the majority opinion in any of the redistricting process lmfao.

Ahhh Gerrymandering at its finest. I wouldn't expect any less

Although I fully expected a map like this it still makes me physically ill to look at it, realizing that it will be adopted regardless what the people of Utah want. I am so tired of the distain our legislature holds for the people they claim to represent while having no intention of doing so.

This map proves that the only intention of the Utah Legislature Redistricting Committee is to silence the collective voice of the voters in Salt Lake County at the Federal level.

I think this is a power grab and not at all what we want in Utah. Voters should choose their elected officials not the other way around. We need to hold them accountable. Lets use the independent re-districting committees map as it will reflect Utah and its people, Republican and Democratic

Proposition 4 was passed by the people to set up the independent redistricting commission to prevent blatant gerrymandering such as this. Counties and cities should be kept together as much as possible so that their interests can be properly represented. There is no justification for creating districts in this manner other than the political advantage of the dominant party.

I commend your amazing congressional map for the state of Utah. You have followed the true purpose of redistricting - to ensure your political dominance while maintaining a façade of true popular representation. You have shown impeccable agility in cracking the Democratic voters of Salt Lake County, successfully preventing a Democratic candidate from winning in the state in the next 10 years. Additionally, your comments to the Utah public about how your maps represent the rural citizens of the state are a model for how to hide a political power grab and simultaneously play to your base. Overall, I encourage the legislature to resist the public criticism of this map in order to maintain your political dominance, and I have the utmost faith that you will do so. I wish you the best of luck. Party over people always, "Elbridge Gerry" (a Salt Lake County high schooler) P.S. Your obvious gerrymander is antithetical to the "Utah way" on which you have campaigned. Furthermore, your actions teach my generation to live by the model of "might makes right", a far cry from your party's claim to hold the moral high ground.

Throw this map out and use the one drawn by the independent committee. This is basically the same map as the 2010 that voters specifically stated is not acceptable.

This map is terrible, not fair ton Utahns, and despite the public comments of the Chairs, it will disenfranchise rural areas at the expense of the Wasatch Front. This map all but ensures that all four Congressmembers come from the Wasatch Front. The map would mean St. George and Blanding are represented by someone from Salt Lake or Davis County, that the folks in Moab and Vernal are represented by someone from Provo, etc. The "pinwheel" cut up Salt Lake County into four pieces of an obvious and blatant gerrymander designed solely to ensure that this county of 1.2 million people doesn't get a voice. This map makes it clear that the Chairs are more concerned that 1 of 435 members of the US House isn't a Democrat, at the expense of ensuring proper representation of Utahns and our needs and desires. Further, the fact that this map was drawn behind closed doors with no public input whatsoever, makes it quite plain that the horse and pony show the Legislative Committee has carried out is nothing more than a sham. You are spitting in the face of Utahns with this proposal, and worse, you know this and you don't care.

The voters spoke in 2018 to establish more fair, deliberate and balanced re-districting. Use the maps provided by the Independent Redistricting Commission! I live near the 3900 S. corridor between Millcreek and Holladay. It is laughable that there are 3 districts within 1/2 mile of my home. That is a travesty! My neighbors in Millcreek and Salt Lake City have far more in common with my interests ( Clean air, water, transportation, public services, development, school districts...) you will never persuade me that having 4 Urban/Rural US Representatives balances any of that out. How unfair. No matter how much lipstick you put on this map it is still a pig.

I echo many of the comments that have already been made about this map. It shows a blatant disregard for the wishes of Utah voters that we so clearly expressed when we passed the ballot referendum in 2018 creating the independent redistricting commission. It quiet frankly feels like a slap to the face of the public. instead of trying to create an equitable map, the Legislature has chosen to dilute and disenfranchise the voices of those that live in Salt Lake County, the most populous county and one of the most diverse in the State. The legislature claims to serve the people, but this map clearly shows that they have no interest in doing so. I'd ask that Legislature to please accept one of the more trusted maps that the Independent Commission put forward, but why bother, you wouldn't listen anyway.

This map disregards updating maps for new population growth and communities and serves to protect incumbents and dilute urban voices. Please implement a map from the independent redistricting committee instead.

As a member of the majority of Utahans that voted for Prop 4, this map is disappointing, frustrating but unfortunately not surprising. Yet another example of increasing polarization and American democracy in decline. We have many successful systems in our government that are technocratic but overseen by elected representatives. The voters asked for this arrangement. Please consider the independent commissions maps which score better on nearly every algorithmic fairness / compactness metric.

It is disappointing (and, alas, somewhat to be expected) to see the party in power in the legislature disregard the maps of the independent redistricting committee. Splitting SL County into 4 districts is gerrymandering and the "we need representatives who represent both urban and rural Utah" explanation is simply putting a "spin" on that. I continue to come to the conclusion that those in government ARE the problem and we should have more decisions made by a jury like selection process of random citizens. Keeping cities and counties together should be a non negotiable in the redistricting process.

This is not a fair map. Splitting up the highly populated Salt Lake County makes this blatant gerrymandering. Salt Lake deserves a collective voice in congress.

There is zero reason to have my area in the same district as SLC. This is a blatant attempt to overrule the people of Utah. According to Rex Shipp a majority of 50.3% means that it is not a majority and should be ignored. That shows true contempt for the citizens of Utah. All parties in Utah voted for the legislature tp be out of the process because we knew that the legislature would ignore the will of the people and act like a dictatorship. I have attached a map of where the districts come together that shows that the entire point is to dilute the Democratic vote. The pin drop is St. Mark's Hospital

This map is blatant gerrymandering & a disregard of what the citizens of Utah want. We voted for an independent redistricting that listened to our concerns. This map is the opposite of what the people of Utah have asked for.

My Utah House District is in two Congressional Districts. You split Salt Lake City right down Main Street! If I walk across the street, I am in a different District. I didn't expect the Legislature to draw up a competitive district. But I had at least hoped they would find a way to keep my city in one district. This is obviously a message from the Utah Legislature that they don't care about the will of the people. They want us all to know they are in charge.

Unbelievable! My family all lives close together (5 minutes apart) in the Millcreek and Sugar House areas, but in this map, we would live in three different Congressional districts. This type of gerrymandering does not serve any Utah community of voters, but only a single political party.

This map splits up Davis County for no reason and groups Bountiful and Centerville with St George. That makes zero sense. Use one of the maps from the IRC.

It is patently absurd that my home would be located in one district, our zoned elementary school (to which we can easily walk) is in another, and my parents' home less than 10 minutes away by car would be represented by yet a third member of Congress. In no way do these divisions within Salt Lake County reflect anything but a deep and abiding desire by Utah's GOP to disenfranchise voters in more liberal neighborhoods, regardless of the actual needs of these constituents for representation that will understand and advocate for our unique urban and suburban needs.

This map is blatantly gerrymandered and an affront to the people of Utah who voted for non-partisan maps. Choosing this map would show the legislature's contempt for their constituents and desire to maintain power at all costs. Reject this map and put forward one of the ones from the Independent Commission instead. All of them are massive improvements over this abomination.

The congressional maps presented by the legislature committee appear to be the worst option for our state. Even though I’m a registered republican, I think it would totally be fair to allow one guaranteed spot for Democrats in Utah in the United States House of Representatives, especially given that one third of the state are democrats. I think it would be wildly absurd to deny them their representation. (Plus wasn’t this country built on the policy of “no taxation without representation?”) I think it would be our constitutional duty to ensure the democrats in our state have their representation. I know we’d gain a lot more from the diversity in this state as opposed to the blatant gerrymandering being done in this state. The committee also stated that they tried to make them according to the will of the people, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The people voted for the independent redistricting committee and to not even use one of their maps for a proposed map seems to completely ignore the will of the people. It also seems completely unjust to divide Salt Lake county in FOUR different Congressional districts. If I were to live at 3900 S 900 E I’d be in the same district as St. George & Moab, my neighbor directly across the street would be in the same district as Manti, the neighbor directly across from them would be with Vernal, and the house a couple blocks down would be with Logan. With that said, that seems completely illogical and unethical.

This map is disgraceful. Salt lake county should have its own seat to elect who the majority of the county wants to represent it. St George, Carbon County, Provo, Davis County, and all the other places you’ve packed into all the salt lake county seats should not pick our representative. Everybody gets screwed with this map.

This map is an embarrassment and a blatant example of legislators electing their constituents. I can walk through each of the four districts within 10 minutes of leaving my front door--how does that keep communities of interest together, and to suggest someone in Millcreek has commonly shared interests with someone in Delta is preposterous. This, and your raw, naked, disregard for the will of the voters in creating the Independent commission, again shows the true colors of the GOP. Shame on you!

In principle the Independent Commission was the ideal redistricting process. Though imperfect, the congressional maps proposed but the Independent Commission are among the best thought-out, fair, and representative ones suggested for the next 10 years. Urban Utah is already overwhelmingly underrepresented on both the state and federal level. It's disappointing to see the majority party in the legislature embrace a map which so brazenly wrestles partisan advantage to eliminate the voice and needs of the areas where most Utahns live. Even given Rob Bishop's publicity stunt to smear the independent commission, it remains a vital tool that Utah must employ. It's disappointing to see the legislature ignore it. I will push for independent commissions for redistricting to be employed in any state I live in because I believe that the voice of people matters.

This map is designed to silence the voters.

I, like many of the users here, expected these maps to be biased. I expected too little, they are biased in a way that invalidates all of the defenses one might have for them. communities of interest? What do Brigham City residents and North Salt Lake residents share in interest? What do People from Holden and Folks from Millcreek want in the common interest? Urban and rural divides? Well, the redistricting commission put forth several maps that considered that, and they were ignored. Partisan bias? Well, these maps are so clearly on one side it isn't even funny. It is a sad state of government that our politicians are doing this and a sadder state yet where they are going to get away with it.

This is clearly gerrymandered. The people voted for an independent commission. Use the IRC maps

I wish I could say I didn't expect this... This new map is even more blatant than the last attempt at gerrymandering. Now we have Salt Lake County portioned between 4 districts instead of 3. To be fair, the last district map did allow democrats a semblance of representation in district 4, so the republicans really had to step it up this time.

The Utah Republican Super Majority again show that they cannot get past themselves. Dividing up the democratic enclave proves that Gerrymandering is at the top of their agenda. Too bad that you do not feel beholden to represent the people who vote for you in a fair and unbiased manner. Some day the shoe will be on the other foot and you will cry fowl but you yourselves have set this precedent.

Saying this map represents "the interests of all Utahns" is incredibly disingenuous. The statement released with this map seems to claim that both urban and rural voters are represented, but if that's the case, why is every single district a mixture of Salt Lake County and rural Utah? The maps consistently group voters with vastly different legislative priorities. The interests of those in urban SLC are obviously different from those in rural Utah, so why are the represented by the same person? Every single rural Utahn will have a representative that's nominally obligated to also represent citizens of Salt Lake County. Is that what rural Utahns want? Is that what citizens of Salt Lake County want? Utahns voted for an independent redistricting commission. Nearly every map produced by the IRC more appropriately groups voters with common interests. Use them.

Politicians choosing their constituents. I can walk to all four districts from my home in less than 10 minutes. Leave Salt Lake County alone and divvy up Utah and Davis counties. That will still give you 3 out of 4 representatives and give others and actual voice.

Embarrassing! Blatant Gerrymandering! Redistricting is supposed to keep communities together but the pizza-pie shaped carving up of SL County is the exact opposite of keeping communities together - and clearly only has one purpose (to divide and dilute non-republican voters) Did the Utah Legislature even consider for a split-second the maps prepared by the Independent Redistricting Commission? Apparently not.

This proposed map is hopelessly gerrymandered, especially where I live (my community will be represented by 4 different congress members? How would that work, how would it be remotely possible represent the interests of the community? ). It is partisan, anti-democratic and will not represent Utah's needs. It will leverage the voice of special interests above all other voices. In summary this map is perfectly designed for politicians to pick their voters. VOTERS SHOULD PICK THEIR POLITICIANS. Please follow the recommendations of the Independent Redistricting Commission. As per the commission: "all maps were drawn in a transparent process that the public could view. All draft maps were made available for public comment, with commissioners working diligently to make suggested changes. Finally, no partisan data or incumbent data was used or at all available. The maps have scored all A’s on political neutrality on Princeton Gerrymandering’s website."

We just spend a few million dollars on an independent redistricting committee to draw maps. The voters asked for that. We did not ask for you to completely ignore their recommendations. What do Vernal and Sandy have in common? The interests of those two areas could not be more different. This idea that each congressional district should represent people from all aspects of the state is Republican speak for gerrymandering. The Wasatch Front, specifically, the Salt Lake Valley should not be split in 4 districts. The interests of those in the most urban area of the state should be heard not split across 4 districts. What a load of partisan crap this is. Do your jobs and represent the people not yourselves!

Is anyone surprised, though?

Proposition 4 was passed by the people to set up the independent redistricting commission to prevent blatant gerrymandering such as this. Counties and cities should be kept together as much as possible so that their interests can be properly represented. There is no justification for creating districts in this manner other than the political advantage of the dominant party.

This is not representation, this is gerrymandering. Our state and nation are stronger when we work together, and weaker when we marginalize people we may not agree with.

If you can't dazzle them with brillance, baffle them with BS! Rural vs urban? Then carve up Davis and Utah county also!!!!!!!

This map is terrible. There is no reason why all reps need to represent both rural and urban Utah. No reason to split SL County into all four districts. No reason to put Provo with Vernal and Park City. No reason--expect to ensure there is always a Republican majority in each district that will suppress the voice of the non-R voters. Rural Utah is not what supplies urban Utah with its water and energy. This would be laughable if it weren't so blatantly obvious that it's only to keep the current people in power and suppress the progressive voters in our state. Don't do this.

Disgusting. To divide Salt Lake County into 4 separate districts flies in the face of every principle of fairness the Independent Re-districting Committee outlined in the effort to take partisan / politically driven motives out of the re-districting process. Let's not pretend this is designed to do anything other than dilute the voice of Utah's largest, non-republican voting block. Shameful.

I expected to see gerrymandering, especially after former Rep. Bishop's silly outburst, but this is beyond ridiculous. Can someone please explain to me how the interests of those of us in Logan relate to the interests of those living in downtown Salt Lake City? As a Republican who lives in a more rural part of the state, I have the same complaint as those living in Salt Lake. Please do not dilute our vote by splitting us up between all four districts! I'm far more interested in having everybody fairly represented than I am in electing more people from my own party (which, I might add, has done a pretty poor job over the last several years).

This is so obvious!! This is the definition of gerrymandering. Slicing up the democratic center of salt lake city into 4 pieces. Shame on you! I'm sick and tired of this partisan politics garbage. Let the people be represented fairly. We choose our representatives, the representatives don't choose their voters!!

This map is an obvious gerrymander and power grab. I does not represent communities and will silence the vote and voice from anyone living in the Salt Lake Valley. The divisions make no sense from any lens other than trying to maintain power for current seat holders. This map is for the politicians not the people. Ignoring the UIRC is absurdly un-democratic and un-American. Please let go of your egos and let the peoples voice be heard. UIRC was passed through direct ballot initiative, it is what the people want.

Splitting SL county into all 4 districts is blatent gerrymandering and a travesty to democracy - this map should be thrown out of consideration

Sadly this is once again extremely gerrymandered in favor of one party. Splitting Salt Lake County four different ways, right on the east side of the valley containing the majority of the Democrat voter base, is just sad and disheartening (which is exactly what the republican party wants). Continuing to disenfranchise any voter base that doesn't vote for your party, nationwide and locally. It's too bad when a people pass a bill, Prop 4, only for the super majority to go behind the peoples back and gut the bill so that your party maintains absolute power in the state.

This is a blatant disregard for the established standards of redistricting. This map is just embarrassing to our state.

The UT Legislature has a long history of blatantly disregarding ballot initiatives, and ignoring the desire for an independent redistricting is on brand. This is an EXTREMELY partisan attempt to keep Republicans in power and silence Utahans. Their reasoning for drawing the map this way doesn't even make sense. First, Sen. Scott Sandall said that the map represents both urban and rural interests, when it only represents rural interest. Utah's population is 90.6% urban, making us the 9th more urban state in the U.S. If anything, three of the four districts should be completely urban to represent the population, but the legislature refuses to even give us one. Second, Sen. Sandall claims that rural Utah "is the reason there is food, water and energy in urban areas of the state." This is also false. Utah's main crop is hay, which humans do not eat, and a large amount of that hay is exported out of the state and even out of the country. Additionally, he claims that our water comes from rural Utah as well which is simply not true. Most of Utah's water comes from precipitation, rain and snowfall in the mountains I can see out of my URBAN window in Sandy. The other two main water sources are the Great Basin and Upper Colorado watersheds, and that is not our water either, we share these watersheds with other states like Wyoming, Colorado, and Nevada. To claim that urban Utahans only have water because of rural areas is a huge stretch. Just say that you have power and you're willing to cheat to keep it. This is not okay and the people who drew this map should resign in disgrace.

The Utah Legislature clearly doesn't understand what "communities of interest" are. Rural Utahns will be completely ignored under this map as they continue to be represented exclusively by congressmen living on the Wasatch Front, and Salt Lake County will have no one in congress to represent its priorities. It would be far more coherent to have one rural district, two suburban districts, and one urban district. It is obvious that this map was drawn exclusively for partisan purposes, and I would at least respect the legislators more if they admitted to what they were doing.

This map is laughable. I attended both your meetings and the independent commission's meetings. I've urged you to adopt their map and can tell from this map you didn't listen to the people. This will make it harder for the people in Utah to feel represented (both rural and urban Utah). Please reconsider before presenting this map. The people who spoke in 2018 wanted independently drawn maps for this very reason. It is clear that you have a conflict of interest and are not interested in giving the people of Utah a voice.

This is a terrible map. The maps proposed by the independent redistricting committee were not great but light years ahead of this proposal. The Legislature is determined to dilute Salt Lake City the the detriment of the rest of Salt Lake County residents and communities in other parts of our state. This proposal is just ridiculous and proof that our Legislators just don't care about being fair. Instead of governing and representation they simply want to retain control and power over all districts in Utah.

Besides equal populations, on every other account, THIS MAP FAILS! Proposition 4 was designed to establish standards for the redistricting process in the following order of priority: (a) adhering to federal law and achieving equal population between districts; FAIL (b) minimizing divisions of municipalities and counties across multiple districts; FAIL (c) making districts geographically compact; FAIL (d) making districts that are contiguous and allow for ease of transport throughout the district; FAIL (e) preserving traditional neighborhoods and local communities of interest; FAIL (f) following natural and geographic boundaries, barriers, and features; and (g) maximizing the agreement of boundaries between different types of districts

This map proposal fully violates the will of Utah voters. It is blatant gerrymandering. The Independent Redistricting Commission, which was established by popular vote and which comprises diverse political viewpoints, proposed multiple maps. There was sincere and large amount of public input on those maps. This one countermands the voters of Utah by denying the fair nature of those maps altogether. How convenient for the ruling party of Utah to divide urban Salt Lake County, where I live, into multiple federal congressional districts. Appalling and shameful. It makes me sick.

This is the textbook definition of gerrymandering, it goes beyond my most pessimistic expectations for this committee. Shame on you.

This is soooo cynical. A daring move to disregard the clearly expressed wishes of the majority of Utahns through a hours and hours of open hearings across the state conducted by minded people trying to do what is right for the most people. This isn't fair! You know this is wrong.

Rep. Ray's proposed maps are an outrage. Disingenuously ignoring the recommendations of the Independent Committee and carefully calculated to silence so many Utah voices. Every opportunity for public comment on this process identified this kind of outcome as unacceptable.

This is blatant Gerrymandering and needs to stop. A district that splits up Murray but includes Levan is ridiculous.

To disenfranchise a county by splitting it up is NOT the way to win over voters. If you are truly concerned about rural residents getting a voice then you shouldn't lump them in with the urban areas. This causes the Congress person to have to divide attention between the issues for rural residents and urban residents resulting in no one getting representation. Stop the gerrymandering.

This is a shameful gerrymander that blatantly disregards what a majority voted for with the independent commission. Our legislature doesn't care about the people of Utah, they care about their own corrupt power.

This is shameful and ignores the will of the voters and the independent redistricting committee. Even ignoring the blatant politicking here, communities should not be split up like this. I will have colleagues at my workplace from literally 4 different congressional districts despite all of us living within 15 miles of each other in the same urban area. This makes no sense at all except as a means to dilute potential democratic votes.

Salt Lake City cannot be split up in this way. This is exactly what you were asked not to do through every public input available. NO.

Absolutely shameless gerrymandering and blatant disregard for the will of the people of Utah. Mr. Sandal and Mr. Ray, you have failed, despite being given every opportunity to do right by your state. This map must be dismissed as a partisan sham. I've seen so many well-researched maps created with transparency and actual interest in public input. This is spitting in the face of Utah voters. Shame on you.

I believe this map unfairly represents Utah as a whole. This looks like a classically "Cracked" gerrymandered map that seeks to keep seats safely under control and not representative of Utahns. I think this is a disgrace to the redistricting committee.

There is no description for this map other than the most shameless partisan gerrymander in the history of Utah. This map is everything the people of Utah told you NOT to do. How dare you disregard their will? This is how republics fail. The congressional delegation of each state should be REPRESENTATIVE of the population of that state. This map is not. It silences a third of Utah voters. And on a side note, what did poor Springville to do deserve this horribly tortured line? A reasonable boundary is far more important than a 0 population deviation.

This is a pretty terrible design. The only thing I see is anti-democracy. What better way to gain power than to divide the people. Do your job. Give us actual representation. Thanks.

There is no justification for this atrocity of a map other than the grotesque "might makes right" politics I called out on October 19th. Senator Sandall seemed to be offended by my comments there that the legislature might continue our state's disgusting tradition of gerrymandering the minority party out of any representation. I knew why he was offended then and this map only confirms it: he didn't like being called out for what he was about to do. Sandall and Ray's statement about this map said that it was adopted for the purpose of putting urban and rural areas together. Hogwash. The map of mine the independent commission sent in did that, and did that better than this map does. It also did that while splitting fewer counties and half as many cities. Why then did the committee go with this map? Because my map would have meant that 35% of voters would have gotten 25% of the seats, and this map means that 0% of them do. This map has an efficiency gap of 27.94% in favor of the GOP. I've drawn hundreds of maps in my free time across all 50 states in the past year, and never have I seen an efficiency gap that high. This map was drawn with surgical precision to deny Utah democrats a voice in Washington. That was its sole purpose. Every member of the legislature who drafted this monstrosity and any member who votes for it must be voted out of office.

I would consider myself someone who would like to see less divide and more fairness in politics. This map accomplishes neither of those things. I hope we don’t adopt this. It doesn’t represent anyone well.

From what I see here this map is really partisan driven. The Governor, legislature, and others always talk about the Utah way when it comes to politics. The approach this map seems to take is a very toxic partisan, and divisive approach. It divides communities far more than necessary and does not accurately or adequately represent the citizens of the state in a way that is anywhere near fair. These boundaries cannot be considered fair. I would ask that something more in line with what the Independent commission submitted be adopted. This isn’t the Utah way. This is the clearly partisan political way. Thank you for your time and consideration in my comment. Let’s do better than this map.

This will not represent Utahns and will not be accurate depiction of what Utahns want. This is going against the voters and is only being done so that one party can have total control. This is not cool and the worst.

Redistricting committee! I am a moderate GOP voter that resides in Utah County and I find this map to be what many would consider a gerrymander. I am so sick and tired of the partisan bickering at the national level and one of the big contributing factors to that is the idea of "safe" districts for one party. I want to see more districts that don't simply split up cities and communities in order to draw maps that favor one political party. In this case it is the party that I support, but regardless I do not want to see gerrymandered maps that favor the GOP. In no sane world should SLC be split up into 4 sections. Also, the voters wanted an independent redistricting committee. The legislature overruled the will of the people. Let's not get drunk on power and instead draw maps that are fair and balanced.

This is a map that truly puts into perspective just how unrepresentative the legislature is of its citizens. There is no reason outside of partisan politics that Salt Lake County should be divided into 4. Throw this map in the trash.

This map serves no one well. Draw and adopt maps that serve our citizens and not your partisan gerrymandering wars. This is a terrible map. The maps from the commission better represent the citizens and I hope this disgraceful display of self serving politicians agendas is not actually considered.

I thought the previous map, that split Salt Lake County into 3 districts, was rough. But this map is somehow worse. It is fundamentally undemocratic to, for blatantly partisan reasons, split the population of the largest metro area in the state into four districts. I live in South Salt Lake, and my district under this proposal would encompass St George, Cedar City, and Monticello. No other county in the state is divided more than twice. No other metro area is divided more than twice. So why is Salt Lake divided in this way? There are other, substantially better options - including any of the 3 proposed by the UIRC. You know, the organization approved by popular referendum to make proposals?

Why is Salt Lake County divided into all four districts? Why is my city divided in half into two different districts? My congressional district under this plan would include most of Utah County's population, which has very different needs than the needs of those living in the fraction of Salt Lake County where I live and I worry my voice will not get heard by my representative.

I understand the desire to have an urban/rural mix of representation in each district, but let me be frank - this map is a disgrace. The current congressional map splits Salt Lake County between three districts and yet here it's divided into all four for no reason. Additionally, you split Salt Lake City itself which is nonsensical and unnecessary. The great people of Utah wanted an independent commission to draw their maps to prevent things like this from happening. However, it has been so obvious that the end goal here was to completely ignore the commission and scam Utahns out of fair representation. If you want to draw a better map that achieves the goal of urban/rural mixed representation, then look at public submission SH2. It only splits Salt Lake County once, while achieving mixed representation.

This map unfairly divides Murray (my city) into 2 districts. Further, there is no reason Salt Lake County should be divided into 4 pieces. This is a blatantly gerrymander and disregards hundreds of thousands of voters who want independent, fair maps. Please use the IRC maps.

Saying this map is fair is like saying oil mixes with water. This map would be an insult to Utahns and the promises you made to them. Shame on any lawmaker that supports this map!

This proposed map splits Salt Lake City down the middle. I would be in a different Congressional district than my neighbors one block over. Splitting the city into two districts, and the county into four districts, is absolutely unacceptable for ensuring proper representation at the federal level. The maps created by the independent comission do a much better job at keeping communities together.

The voters asked for nonpartisan redistricting. This is a blatant gerrymander with SL County divided between all four districts. Please use the IRC maps.