LEHI, Utah — After finding that Lehi contains the most intersecting district lines among the six proposed congressional district maps in front of the Utah legislature, I spoke with local voters to determine which solution makes the most sense.
The competing approaches have been dubbed the "pizza" and "donut" methods.
The pizza pie approach represents the status quo, where all districts emanate from the Wasatch Front center out into rural areas. The donut approach keeps communities along the Wasatch Front together in Salt Lake County and northern Utah County, while creating two districts in the state: one in the north, anchored in the Ogden and Logan areas, and one in the south, anchored by Provo and St. George.
Xander Ross, who was headed to FanX, thinks redistricting makes sense.
"I kind of like that. I mean, we've had a lot of growth in the last few years," Ross said.
Ross emphasized the importance of proper representation.
"It's supposed to be our representatives, right? So they should be representing what our interests are," he said.
Jesse Zinn focused on the cultural aspects of redistricting.
"Different cities, you know, have different cultures and maybe different types of dynamics," Zinn said.
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Based on the explanations of the different approaches, Zinn expressed a preference for the donut method.
"I probably like the donut district better. Just because I think it's smaller and more centralized to specific areas," Zinn said.
Sauna Gentry has strong opinions about the process. She prefers the pizza approach but has concerns about the current system, saying, "They only listen to one side of the state or one side of the group."
Gentry believes the pizza map better represents the majority's interests.
"The reality is we live in a country where theoretically, the majority of what people want should be what we get," she said. "So I think that's a better representation of a majority."
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Democrats argue the pizza approach exists to split up communities that might make races competitive. Republicans counter that the donut approach cuts out rural areas from two of the three congressional districts.
All of the voters I spoke with were also ready to engage and possibly compromise.
One example? Gentry saw that her home in Lehi would be separated from neighboring cities like Saratoga Springs and Vineyard if lawmakers choose one of four pizza-type maps under consideration.
"That just cut us out of our main area," Gentry said.
Residents can still participate in the redistricting process through an open comment site where they can tell the legislature their preferences.
