Letter to the editor: Partisan gerrymandering must end

There is no public policy issue more important to us than elimination of partisan gerrymandering in drawing voting district boundaries for state and federal elections. It gets to the heart of representative democracy. It needs to end in every state, whether Republicans or Democrats have the majority.
We oppose efforts by the Utah Legislature to create a constitutional amendment that would dilute or repeal the Utah Supreme Court’s recent ruling upholding the 2018 citizen-led ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission in Utah.
Partisan gerrymandering is wrong. It skews, sometimes dramatically, the political playing field. We support leveling the political playing field by upholding Utah citizens’ years-long efforts to establish fair political district boundaries in Utah that are free from political party influence.
We believe this will allow truer representation of the people and increased competition of ideas in the public square.
Neil and Rebecca Mahoney
Sandy