Redistricting process disrespects Utah citizens' right to vote

The contempt of many legislators for public opinion and voting fairness is almost beyond belief. Some legislators consider redistricting to be none of the public's business. But they will tell school children that our system is wonderful because if you don't like the representation you get, you can vote someone else into office. Gerrymandering makes electing that "someone else" nearly impossible, and that's what's going on here and now.

No one can reasonably expect a legislator to vote 100 percent a particular way. But when partisan chicanery makes my vote, your vote or an entire county's votes meaningless, that's a huge violation of public trust. That's one of the very few times worth saying, "You'll never have my vote again for anything."

We are to believe that there is a mandate requiring the division of Salt Lake and Davis counties into four and two different districts, respectively. That assertion is flatly untrue. There is a big lie at work here, and it comes in two parts.

The truth is, first, that it's only legally necessary to divide one county even once, and that is Salt Lake County. Second, the only reason the Legislature wants to divide Davis County (and Utah County for that matter) is its determination to radically dilute the voting power of Salt Lake County voters, with the intention of making it impossible for a Democratic candidate to be elected. By dividing Salt Lake County into three or even four districts, Davis County voters become a political football.

I'm as troubled by Democratic machinations as I am by Republican machinations. As a matter of fundamental fairness, the four-way division of Salt Lake County is just mean-spirited. Once you satisfy one-person-one-vote, the most significant boundary consideration is compactness (which generally will keep communities of interest together).

As much of the state's most populous county as can lawfully be included in one district should be. I was incredulous when I heard Senate President Mike Waddoups (R-Taylorsville) claim that the most important issue to his constituents was timber rights.

The notion of mixing swaths of rural Utah with swaths of urban Utah did not draw wide popular support in any of the areas where the Redistricting Committee held hearings. It's code for marginalizing the votes of Utah's urban population.

The plans now being considered have been concocted in secret. At the very least, a final decision should be deferred until several public hearings, around the state, have been held and some meaningful opinion polling can be undertaken.

There are 32 members of the House in Salt Lake County and another eight in Davis County. It takes 39 votes to pass a bill. If Davis and Salt Lake voters are silent between now and Oct. 17, when the critical decisions are made, we have no one to blame for losing our voting power but ourselves, and those legislators who profess to be representing us.

David R. Irvine represented a Bountiful district as a Republican for four terms in the Utah House of Representatives. He now is in private law practice in Salt Lake City.