Voting

Significant Statistic | Preferred Congressional Maps, Local Government Perspectives Part 4

Written by: Christopher Collard

Preferred Maps In 2020, the Utah Foundation conducted a survey of city officials to gain insight into their perspectives on redistricting. One question offered a small sample of maps to choose from, asking respondents which redistricting option would most benefit their community. The urban/rural map was most popular, although nearly a quarter of respondents were satisfied with the status quo.  (See Figure 1.)       A Utah court required the Legislature to redraw its … Continued

Significant Statistic | Redistricting Priorities, Local Government Perspectives Part 3

Written by: Christopher Collard

City and Town Officials’ Priorities When redistricting, the Utah Legislature outlined several guiding principles. These include: Preserving communities of interest Preserving geographical or man-made boundaries Preserving the core of prior districts Minimizing the division of municipalities and counties Maximizing boundary agreement at different political levels Prohibiting the purposeful favoring or disfavoring of a party, incumbent, or candidate In 2020, the Utah Foundation conducted a survey of city officials to gain insight into their perspectives on … Continued

Significant Statistic | Redistricting and Preferred District Partners, Local Government Perspectives Part 2

Written by: Christopher Collard

Choosing District Partners In 2020, the Utah Foundation surveyed city officials to understand how they view their communities. Before asking about redistricting, the survey first asked city officials to identify which communities were similar to their own (see post: Redistricting and Similar Communities). The Utah Foundation then asked specifically about redistricting, whether there was a county that officials preferred to have in their district or a country they preferred to NOT have in their district. … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast | Another Shot at Redistricting

Written by: Dan Bammes

Listen to our latest episode of Utah Thrives, where we discuss a hot topic: redistricting. In this episode, Dan Bammes features a discussion with Christopher Collard, Research Director of the Utah Foundation. Christopher talks about the Utah Foundation’s redistricting tool, which enables Utahns to experience redistricting firsthand. In addition, Christopher highlights findings from a survey of city officials, which includes a question about keep together “communities of interest,” which is one of the priorities of Utah’s redistricting … Continued

Significant Statistic | Redistricting and Similar Communities, Local Government Perspectives Part 1

Written by: Christopher Collard

Choosing Communities In 2020, the Utah Foundation surveyed city officials to understand how they view their communities. One of the priorities of Utah’s redistricting commission was to keep together “communities of interest.” With that in mind, the Utah Foundation sought to better understand how city officials viewed their communities and which communities shared interests. To accomplish this, the Utah Foundation showed respondents a map of the state, asking them to select which four to six … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast | Civic Engagement

Written by: Peter Reichard

The measures of civic engagement in Utah reveal a mixed bag. That’s the conclusion of a new Utah Foundation report called The The Measure of a Citizen: Civic Engagement in Utah. It’s the first installment in our new Utah Social Capital Series. And the findings of the report raise a lot of questions. Utah Foundation Senior Analyst Christopher Collard and President Peter Reichard explore those questions in this edition of Utah Thrives, the Utah Foundation … Continued

When it comes to civic engagement in Utah, it’s a mixed bag

Written by: Peter Reichard

Going back 200 years, strong citizen engagement in the democratic process and in civic improvement has served as a barometer of the vitality of the American republic. It’s a matter of good government: At the state and local levels, civic engagement has significant implications for the effectiveness and efficiency of government, the quality of services and the responsiveness of public officials to citizen priorities. A decline in civic engagement can reduce the accountability of the … Continued

Op-ed: Follow the facts, not the drama, and focus on Utah

Written by: Peter Reichard

Back when I attended journalism school in the early 1990s, we were frequently exhorted to “find the drama” in whatever we were covering. Drama sold papers, and if you wanted your precious byline on the exalted front page, you needed to write stories that elevated conflict and emotion. Even in my youthful ambition, I felt vaguely uneasy with this approach, seeing at times that journalists were exploiting their subjects, their audience or both. Cloaking the … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast: A New Census Brings a New Round of Redistricting

Written by: Peter Reichard

In this episode of Utah Thrives, Utah Foundation Research Analyst Christopher Collard and President Peter Reichard discuss the new Utah redistricting statute and the challenges of redistricting in our state. The conversation follows Utah Foundation’s release of a new brief on redistricting and an interactive citizen redistricting tool.  

Op-Ed: The turn of the decade brings political redistricting. It’s not as simple as it sounds

Written by: Peter Reichard

It’s a new decade, and that means it will soon be time to play everyone’s favorite political game, redistricting. This time, however, it comes with a new player in Utah: a redistricting commission armed with a set of principles for redistricting. The commission and principles come compliments of a citizen referendum approved in 2018, with legislative changes in 2020. The recently approved legislation calls for the creation of a seven-member redistricting commission to draft and … Continued