I believe Utah's Legislative Redistricting Committee has not yet finalized its redistricting maps. Several of their maps are on the public redistricting site, (RedistrictUtah.com). I appreciate its transparency as I have attended eight of the public meetings. But, I think the committee will use public comments only for specific tweaks.
Many proposed maps by Sen. Michael Waddoups and others do not keep common interests together as repeatedly requested by citizens throughout the process. Rep. Fred Cox and Rep. Wayne Harper's maps are good because they were designed for compactness with minimal divisions of cities. One map, for example, divides Salt Lake County into only two districts, keeps Utah County intact, etc.
It looks like the legislative committee will most likely dilute Salt Lake County's votes into three or four U.S. Congressional Districts, will position Sen. Dan Liljenquist against Sen. Luz Robles across county lines in the same Senate district and will dissect Utah County into more Senate districts than needed. I've analyzed the committee's various posted maps. Lines are political.
Co-Chairman Kenneth Sumsion expressed that people act like it's personal. It's not. Citizens want to keep communities together. Is that too much to ask?
Kelli Lundgren
Cottonwood Heights