The Utah Constitutional Revision Commission discarded plans Friday to create an independent redistricting committee. At they same time, the commission discussed the possibility and desire to establish redistricting criteria.

The commission, consisting of judges, lawyers and a handful of legislators, received a report of redistricting guidelines from 41 states intended to be used to generate ideas on how to change redistricting guidelines in Utah.

During the meeting the commission leaned toward making population, geography and centrality the main factors to be considered in drawing new district boundaries.

The issue has been at the front of the state's political debate since the lines were redrawn in 2001. That year, Republicans rescheduled legislative and congressional boundaries in an attempt to oust Democrats, an effort that was successful in a number of races.

An informal vote of 3 to 7 steered the commission away from planning an independent redistricting committee, something hoped for by many Democratic legislators.

During the 2003 legislative session, Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake, introduced a bill to have a seven-member, bipartisan commission handle redistricting in 2011. But the bill failed to pass.

House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, spoke against McGee's bill then and voted against a similar idea during the commission's informal vote Friday. He was also one of two members of the commission who voted against creating redistricting criteria.

Majority Whip Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, cast the other opposing vote.

"The Democrats were not left out of the process as much as they want you to believe," Curtis told his fellow commission members.

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A few members like Curtis seemed to be content with the current practice until it is challenged legally. The majority, however, wanted to avoid unnecessary litigation by creating more specific constitutional changes.

A final decision won't be made for months, but commission members leaned toward ranking the criteria to help avoid future interpretation.

The commission will send its final recommendation to the state Legislature. The Utah Constitution cannot be changed without approval of both houses and a citizen vote.


E-mail: jparkinson@desnews.com

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