Utah Supreme Court dismisses GOP Legislature appeal in redistricting fight

(CN) — The Utah Supreme Court on Friday slapped down an effort by the Republican-led state Legislature to use its voter maps, which were found to violate a voter-passed ban on gerrymandering.

The state Supreme Court decision follows years of conflict between Utah’s Legislature and voter advocacy groups including the League of Women Voters of Utah, after voters approved Proposition 4 in 2018, an anti-gerrymandering measure that set new requirements for drawing voting maps.

But the Utah Supreme Court ruled that it does not have jurisdiction to hear the case yet as it still had pending remedies in lower court.

In a unanimous order signed by Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Durrant, the state Supreme Court said that the defendants had missed their 30-day window to appeal a lower court’s previous decisions.

"The district court did not certify any one claim as final," Durrant wrote for the court. "To certify a claim for immediate appellate review under rule 54(b), a district court 'may enter judgment' only as to 'claims' in their entirety. And 'without a judgment disposing of a claim or a party there is no basis for certification under this rule.'"

The lower court upheld Proposition 4 in August 2025 as the law governing redistricting law and blocked a 2021 redistricting map proposed by the Legislature.

“Today’s decision confirms that the Utah Legislature, like everyone else, has to follow the rules that govern court proceedings,” said Mark Gaber, senior director for redistricting at Campaign Legal Center, in a press release. “The Legislature had every opportunity to pass a fair and legal map last fall, and it chose not to. Now, for the first time in decades, Utah voters will vote under a fair congressional map that respects local communities and treats all Utahns equally.”

Gaber, who represents the League of Women Voters of Utah, told Courthouse News that the state Supreme Court ruling defaults back to a map approved by Third District Judge Dianna Gibson, who ruled in favor of the League of Women Voters last year. These maps will be in place for the 2026 midterms, according to the Campaign Legal Center.

The ruling does not address the underlying questions about Proposition 4 but rather leaves the federal court’s earlier order in place. 

The League of Women Voters of Utah has accused the legislature of repeatedly attempting to bypass Proposition 4 to gerrymander congressional districts and entrench its power, while lawmakers argue they hold exclusive authority over redistricting.

Courts have repeatedly rejected the Legislature’s efforts to retain control over redistricting through legislative acts. In 2022, the League of Women Voters of Utah sued in Salt Lake County District Court, arguing those acts were unlawful.

The Utah Supreme Court ruled in favor of the League of Women Voters of Utah in both 2024 and 2025.

Last year, Gibson sided with the League, invalidating the Utah Legislature’s redrawn voter maps and blocking the enforcement of new bills aimed at modifying Proposition 4.

The seven-year legal battle has centered on whether the state must use maps drawn by the Legislature or by an independent voting commission.

“The map they put in place divided Salt Lake County — which has unaffiliated, and Democrats and Republicans — the largest in the state into four districts,” said Katharine Biele, president of the League of Women Voters of Utah. “We have nothing in common. Prop 4 said you need to consider communities of interest. Not all of the county can be one district, but it should not be divided into four.”

Proposition 4, which passed by a slim margin, has been challenged every step of the way, Biele said. 

“They’re just furious,” Biele said. “They really want all of the power.”

Earlier this month, Utah officials filed a new federal lawsuit seeking to block Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson from approving what they call an unconstitutional map. The plaintiffs argue a state court undermined state and federal law last year by deciding which map complied with Proposition 4.

“In one stroke, therefore, Judge Gibson’s decision has effectively displaced the elected representatives of the people of Utah and substituted her own preferred electoral arrangement, drafted by partisan litigants that openly sought to flip one of Utah’s four Republican congressional seats to a Democrat,” they say in their federal complaint. “The only proper remedy for a court in such circumstances is to enjoin the lieutenant governor from implementing an unconstitutional map and either allow the pre-existing 2021 map to remain in effect or to remand to the legislature to draw a new one.”

A decision from the federal courts is expected on Monday — the deadline for Henderson to approve a map.

Utah Republicans also aim to repeal Proposition 4 and prevent court-imposed voting maps with two ballot measures in the November elections.

"Unelected activist efforts are working to take redistricting power away from your elected legislators and place it in the hands of unelected commissions and the courts," Utah Republican Party Chairman Robert Axson said in a letter. "If successful, Utahns would lose one of the most fundamental principles of our Republic: that those who make our laws must answer to the voters who elect them."

Biele, with the League of Women Voters of Utah, said she hopes to see Proposition 4 left as is.

“I don't know if that will happen because the legislature won't stop,” she said. “I believe we will prevail because we have the right on our side. We have the Utah Constitution on our side. We have the people on our side, both Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated. We’ll just have to see.”

Officials from the legislature or government did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.