😃 Good: Utah Supreme Court strikes down gerrymandered maps and reinstates independent redistricting commission. In 2018, Utah voters approved Proposition 4, creating an independent redistricting commission and prohibiting partisan gerrymandering. In 2020, the state legislature repealed the ballot initiative and drew congressional maps that favored Republicans. The Utah League of Women Voters and others sued to reinstate the independent commission and the anti-gerrymandering rules. This month, the case made its way to the State Supreme Court, which upheld a lower court ruling permanently blocking the gerrymandered maps, reinstating the ballot initiative, and ordering lawmakers to draw new, compliant maps by September 25.
😠 Bad: Missouri lawmakers passed legislation to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts. The new map targets voters in Kansas City, dividing them into two new districts that are predominantly rural. Redistricting like this weakens the power of communities of color, reduces competition in elections, and undermines our democracy. However, the fight for Kansas City voters is not over. A coalition of pro-democracy advocates is collecting signatures to hold a referendum on the new map. Advocates have until December to collect 107,000 signatures and block the map from taking effect.
😡 Ugly: President Donald Trump has announced plans to issue an executive order requiring voter ID for every ballot and banning almost all mail-in voting, except for people who are very ill or serving in the military overseas. Earlier this year, he signed a similar order that required proof of citizenship to register to vote, but courts blocked parts of it as unconstitutional.
The president does not have the power to make these kinds of sweeping changes on his own. State governments and legislatures decide how elections work — not the White House. Still, some states are moving ahead with laws that copy Trump’s proposals, raising fears that elderly, low-income, and Black and Brown voters could lose access to the ballot box.
