Utah’s congressional map just got thrown back into the ring after Utah Republicans appealed to the Utah Supreme Court about judge Dianna Gibson’s rejection of the Republican-drawn congressional map. Judge Gibson ruled the map did not comply with the state’s gerrymandering initiative, Proposition 4. The Republican representatives responded by claiming it “oversteps the role of courts in deciding political boundaries”.

Currently, Republican representatives are preparing for a special legislative session, planned for this December, to figure out what their next move will be going forward. For now, the court ordered map will stay in place, but the appeal means there is a chance it may not be used in the 2026 state elections.

This redistricting decides who represents your area in Congress and can change the amount of influence and voice your community can carry. Under the Republican-drawn map, Salt Lake County would be split into more districts instead of staying in one larger district like it was before. This means the democrat leaning counties would have those voices split into different districts, suppressing their voices.

“I’m upset to see the maps going through all this debating, this shouldn’t be an issue up for debate. Either the map is beneficial for everyone or it isn’t,” says senior Aubrey Troxel.

“A lot of states are trying to redistrict right now and gerrymander their maps. Utah is following along and it is truly necessary the map gets appealed,” says Junior Lila Burgoyne.

With the appeal in the Supreme Court, this fight will eventually reach an end. Let’s hope it ends with a map that is satisfactory for everyone.