Arguments from the Utah Legislature claiming that the voter-approved redistricting initiative infringes on their “separation of powers” fundamentally misinterpret where political authority comes from.
The Utah Constitution is crystal clear: all political power is inherent in the people. The Legislature’s power is a delegated trust, and voters have every right to set the terms by which that trust is exercised.
Power flows from the people, not the Legislature
The entire debate hinges on a simple, foundational principle. While the Legislature’s duty to draw maps is in the state constitution, it does not exist in a vacuum. It is governed by a more profound declaration in Article I, Section 2:
“All political power is inherent in the people; ... they have the right to alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require.”
The people’s right to “alter or reform their government” is the ultimate authority. When citizens pass an initiative like Proposition 4, they are not encroaching on legislative power; they are exercising their right to define the rules of the game. It is as if the people, as a board of directors, issue a new bylaw to their management team. The initiative is a check on power, not a violation of it.
Wrong tools for the job
A critical flaw in the legislative counter-effort is the attempt to mandate specific statistical tests that are ill-suited for Utah’s unique political landscape. With approximately 30% of Utah voters registered as unaffiliated, statistical tools designed for a strict two-party system, like the “efficiency gap,” lose their validity. These tests simply cannot account for the complex preferences of such a massive independent voting bloc.
Mandating these flawed tests is not a good-faith effort to ensure fairness. It is a subtle way to undermine the core purpose of Proposition 4 by forcing professionals to use the wrong tools for the job. The initiative wisely called for transparency and professional standards, not rigid, inappropriate formulas that ignore a third of the electorate.
Enhance the law; do not override it
There are no laws immune to legislative amendment; even those enacted through citizen initiative are subject to legislative change. However, the Legislature is constrained not by the existence of “super-laws,” but by procedural and substantive limitations on how it may alter such laws. These constraints are designed to preserve the integrity of the initiative process while maintaining legislative flexibility.
Instead of mandating specific tests be used incorrectly, lawmakers can amend the law to require the independent commission to be more specific on using the highest professional standards suitable for Utah’s political reality.
They can enshrine into law that fairness tests must be dynamically chosen to match the state’s current voter distribution. As voter alignments shift, standard two-party metrics can become unsuitable, as is the case when a large share of the electorate is unaffiliated. Assessments must therefore use advanced analyses that accurately model the specific electorate at that time.
In a republic, power flows from the people to their representatives. Initiatives are a direct and constitutionally protected expression of that foundational power. The Legislature’s authority is a product of the people’s voice, and that same voice can set the rules. This is not a crisis; it is the system working exactly as it was designed.