Utah GOP gathers enough signatures in push to legalize partisan gerrymanders

Utah Republicans working to repeal the state’s ban on partisan gerrymandering have ostensibly gathered enough signatures to put their measure on the November ballot, but it’s still too soon to know whether that will actually happen.

The signature drive comes after Utah courts struck down the state’s previous electoral map, which will likely allow Democrats to win one of the state’s four congressional seats. Unhappy with that result, the GOP now wants to ask voters to make blatantly partisan gerrymanders legal again.

As of Tuesday morning, the GOP effort had logged more than 163,000 signatures, clearing the statewide signature requirement. It also gathered enough signatures in 26 out of 29 state senate districts – meeting the district-level hurdle, as well. 

But the Republican referendum effort isn’t a done deal, because thousands of Utahns have been submitting paperwork to remove their signatures from the petition. 

To sink the campaign, enough Utah residents would need to remove their signatures in at least one state senate district. In state senate district 6, the petition has met the requirement by a margin of fewer than 250 signatures, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. 

After their signatures are added to the official tally, Utah residents have 45 days to submit removal paperwork. Pro-voter groups have rallied behind a signature removal campaign, sending notices to residents who may have signed by mistake or changed their minds. 

More than 4,700 Utahns have withdrawn their signatures so far, according to Utah independent journalist Bryan Schott, who has closely tracked the campaign. 

It’s not unlikely that a large number of Utahns may have signed the petition in error. The GOP signature gathering effort has been riddled with allegations of harassment and fraud. 

Some residents said they were tricked into signing, and a Utah county clerk said his office had rejected hundreds of fraudulent signatures. The Utah GOP paid MAGA-aligned firm Patriot Grassroots $4.3 million to lead the signature gathering effort, but later terminated the contract after the allegations emerged. 

Shortly before the signature deadline, the state GOP’s prospects appeared so poor that it sought an extension from the Utah Supreme Court, but that request was rejected.

But the GOP seemed to clear the requirements regardless, closing a large gap in the final days.

Utah Republicans have been laser focused on repealing the state’s gerrymandering ban ever since a judge struck down their 2021 congressional map last year, finding that it split up Salt Lake City – Utah’s liberal power base – in violation of a landmark 2018 voter-approved constitutional amendment that prohibited partisan redraws. The court eventually selected a new map that could allow Democrats to flip one of Utah’s four congressional seats. 

That ruling — and a subsequent one upholding it — came as President Donald Trump was pushing Republican-controlled states across the country to redraw their congressional maps to give the GOP an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections. 

If the GOP signature effort is successful, Utahns will once again head to the polls in November to weigh in on partisan gerrymandering – this time to decide whether to reverse their vote from 2018.