Ballot initiative tries to eliminate gerrymandering in Utah

This appears to be a year for ballot initiatives in Utah and one referred to as the Better Boundaries initiative has been getting a great deal of attention.

On KVNU’s For the People program, Blake Moore, a leader with the Better Boundaries ballot initiative, said the idea is getting more interest all the time. The aim of the initiative is to bring together people of multiple political affiliations in a non-partisan matter for redistricting, avoiding gerrymandering for political purposes.

He said many elected officials like it, too, and they welcome the non-partisan feature.

“Leaders like the late Senator Bob Bennett, (Ohio) Governor (John) Kasich, Senator (John) McCain, they all support this,” Moore explained. “We’re excited that Utah should be on the right side of history, here.

“Nobody is forcing this to happen, other than this ballot initiative. For a red state like Utah, this is our way of showing we should be fair, that all members of Utah will have a voice in our democracy. I think it could be a real guiding light to the other half of the country that hasn’t done something like this.”

Moore, a Republican, says the initiative aims to restore the way elected officials are chosen to the way it was originally intended: that constituents choose their elected officials, rather than having elected officials choosing their constituents, which is the way it is being done today. He says there are far too many uncontested races and too many communities are split apart to satisfy political voting districts.

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