TAYLORSVILLE—With numbers from the 2020 census now in the possession of state officials, efforts at redistricting Utah’s congressional and legislative districts is ramping up. In addition to the work being done by the state’s Legislative Redistricting Committee, a separate group is also working to gather input from residents to help redraw district lines.

The Utah Independent Redistricting Commission (UIRC) met with a coalition of mayors and county political leaders on Monday at the state office building in Taylorsville to introduce them to the commission’s new interactive website, which will help Utah voters explore the census data, submit comments and ideas about redistricting and create their own suggested voting maps.

“We want to know how voters would like to see these political district lines created,” said Rex Facer, chair of the seven-member UIRC. “With the census numbers now in, we can see where areas of greatest growth have occurred, giving us a framework for mapping out new districts.”

The census revealed the following statistics about Davis County. In 2010, the population was 306,479, whereas the 2020 census shows the county with a population of 362,679 – quite a growth. It also broke down the racial makeup of the county as follows, with the 2020 numbers listed followed by the 2010 numbers in parentheses:

White  302,352 (275,959)

Black or African American 4,376 (3,702)

American Indian or Alaskan Native 2,503 (1,424)

Asian 7,143 (5,416)

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 3,345 (1,813)

Hispanic or Latino 39,295 (25,753)

Two races or more 27,984 (8,245)

Among those at Monday’s meeting was Davis County Commission chairman Bob Stevenson, who saw a demonstration of the website and how maps can be formulated.

“We all know the growth in the state didn’t come in equal quantities,” he said. “The legislative committee has a set of criteria they must use when they draw up the districts, and I think this group’s input, as they get it from the residents, will be extremely helpful in that effort.”

Among those speaking on Monday were Jeff Merchant, chair of the Utah Democratic Party, and Carson Jorgensen, chair of the Utah Republican Party. Merchant said his hope is that Utah, along with the rest of the nation as other states also work on redistricting, can create “more competitive districts. In the 2020 elections for Congress, of the 435 seats on the ballot, only 43 of those elections were in what we call ‘competitive’ districts. We just need an innovative approach so that all voices can be heard in this process, and I fully support the work of this commission.”

Jorgensen called redistricting “a very important thing, and it’s difficult to draw these maps. I think we all want to ensure that there’s complete and total transparency in this process.”

Facer said the commission might create up to 12 different maps, with four of them eventually selected to submit to the legislative commission. He said each district would need to about equal in population with the others, “as practical.” In addition to Facer, the other six members of the commission are former Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham, former Utah State Senator Karen Hale, former Utah State Senator President Lyle Hillyard, Davis County GIS Analyst N. Jeffrey Baker, former U.S. Congressman from Utah Rob Bishop, and retired State Judge William A. Thorne Jr.

Mayors from Tooele, Provo, Taylorsville, Riverton, Midvale, West Valley City and West  Jordan were present at the event, along with Summit County Commissioner Glenn Wright.

More information on the commission’s work and the gathering of public input will be forthcoming.