Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson issued the declaration Thursday, the day of her deadline to make the official determination after time windows to submit, verify and remove signatures had passed.
The declaration doesn’t come as a surprise. Last month, the repeal effort was on track to fail after thousands of the GOP-led petition signers had removed their signatures — including hundreds in not just one but two Senate districts that dropped the effort below its required signature threshold for the question to go before voters.
Henderson noted in her declaration that the the group Utahns for Representative Government (founded by the head of the Utah Republican Party) had obtained 161,961 valid signatures statewide — above the 140,749 needed — but the petition only met its required signature thresholds in 24 of Utah’s 29 Senate districts.
Under Utah law, ballot initiative backers need to gather signatures from not only at least 8% of the state’s registered voters statewide, but also at least 8% of registered voters in at least 26 of the state’s 29 Senate districts. Utah has some of the most difficult requirements in the country for ballot initiatives.
Because the effort fell short in two Senate districts, “I hereby determine that the ‘Repeal of Independent Redistricting Commission and Standards Act’ initiative petition is insufficient and therefore will not be placed on the ballot,” Henderson’s declaration said.
Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of Better Boundaries — the anti-gerrymandering group that initially backed and successfully sponsored Proposition 4 in 2018 — issued a statement Thursday applauding Henderson’s official determination.
“Utah voters won today. Again,” she said. “The latest attempt to repeal Proposition 4 — to tear down the independent redistricting system that Utah voters have worked for and defended for years — has been stopped. This win belongs to the voters who keep showing up, every single time, and refusing to let politicians rewrite the rules in their favor.”
Rasmussen also pointed to a poll it commissioned earlier this year that found 64% of Utah voters support Proposition 4, and 57% disapproved of the Legislature repealing it.
When it was approved into law by voters, Proposition 4 created an independent redistricting commission and set neutral map-drawing standards for electoral boundaries. However, the 2021 Utah Legislature repealed and replaced the law, turning the commission into an advisory body that lawmakers could ultimately ignore. And lawmakers adopted a congressional map that year that wasn’t drawn using the measure’s independent commission or neutral map-drawing standards.
That prompted a lawsuit, through which Utah courts have since determined that the Utah Legislature violated Utahns’ constitutional rights when it repealed and replaced Proposition 4. Those rulings resulted in a court-ordered map to replace the 2021 congressional map that was deemed the result of an unconstitutional process.
The new map turned one of Utah’s four safely red congressional districts blue, prompting outrage from Republicans. As part of their efforts to fight the court’s rulings, the Utah Republican Party spearheaded the push to repeal Proposition 4, arguing voters — who narrowly approved the law in 2018 — should get another chance to weigh in on the law.
Republicans have also argued, despite the court rulings, that the Utah Legislature continues to have the exclusive authority over drawing and approving maps for redistricting.
Rasmussen said the failure of the Proposition 4 repeal effort is the latest result of voters who have “fought back” against repeated attempts to undo it.
“Every single time politicians have tried to grab control of the maps that determine who represents Utah families, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents have stood together and made clear that voters should choose their representatives — not the other way around,” Rasmussen said.
She warned, however, that the fight isn’t over.
“They have now lost that fight multiple times,” she said. “But they will try again.”
Utah Republican Party Chair Rob Axson did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday, but last month when the initiative first fell into the red, he issued a statement saying Utahns for Representative Government isn’t done fighting for the repeal — either through a lawsuit or a future initiative effort.
“We have significant concerns about the practices utilized by the opposition and continue to review the signature validation and removal process,” Axson said at the time. “Whether now or in the future, by litigation or initiative, we will repeal Prop 4. This fight is not over but just beginning.”
When asked about what the party plans to do now about Proposition 4, Axson told Utah News Dispatch in an interview last week he had “nothing that I have to announce right now,” but “you’ll see what comes.”
“The people of Utah have been ignored,” he said, accusing Better Boundaries and other groups who encouraged signers to remove their names of disenfranchising Utah voters. “I think that’s unfortunate. I think it’s gross. I think it’s not the Utah way, and I don’t think it’s going to ultimately stand.”
It’s likely that the next route Utah Republican legislative leaders will try is a proposed constitutional amendment to make clear that the Legislature has the final say when it comes to lawmaking, not voters.
The Legislature’s first attempt to make that change in the Utah Constitution, a ballot question called Amendment D, failed in 2024 after it was voided by the courts for legislative leaders failing to meet constitutional publishing requirements and characterizing it in a misleading way on the ballot.
It’s possible that the issue could be headed for a special legislative session in coming months, but the governor has not yet issued a call.
“The Legislature has made its intentions clear through years of repeated attempts,” Rasmussen said. “They will not stop until it has secured the power to draw its own maps, pick its own voters, and insulate itself from accountability. That’s what gerrymandering is. That’s what this has always been about.”
Rasmussen said Better Boundaries is bracing for another attempt to undo Proposition 4 through the constitutional amendment.
“But Utah voters have beaten this back before,” she said, “and we are confident they will be ready to do it again.”
This report was originally published at UtahNewsDispatch.com.
