SALT LAKE CITY — Students at the University of Utah are raising concerns about potentially misleading tactics used by signature gatherers working to repeal Proposition 4, Utah's redistricting reform measure.
I walked around the core areas of campus from the library to the bookstore to the student union. Some of the students I approached pointed me to where they had just seen a petitioner, but I missed them.
On social media threads dedicated to the University of Utah, several students reported being approached by signature gatherers who may not have provided complete information about what they were signing.
Local News
Majority of Utahns, including GOP voters, support anti-gerrymandering law
The gatherers are collecting signatures to repeal Prop 4, which established an independent redistricting commission to draw Utah's political maps.
"So the guy I talked to, I asked him a couple questions, and he was like, 'I don't really know. I'm just trying to get signatures,'" said student Charlie Miller.
Owen Bennett described an encounter he had while walking across campus when a signature gatherer stopped him.
"He goes, 'Hey, are you registered to vote in the state of Utah?' I go, 'No, unfortunately, I'm registered in California.' He goes, 'OK, get registered in Utah, and then if I see you again, come sign this petition for Prop 4,'" Bennett explained.
Bogus efforts used to gain Prop 4 repeal signatures called 'most extensive fraud that we've seen':
Reddit threads have emerged warning students they might not receive accurate information from signature gatherers about what they're signing. Students report being told they would be supporting "voters' rights to choose" or "people's rights to choose their district" when signing the petition.
Several students told me they thought it was a petition opposing gerrymandering.
Daylan Alzanora and others gathered around a table for College Republicans. He's the group's president, and he believes Proposition 4 is unconstitutional and that legislators are the ones elected to make decisions like that.
"Our constitution specifically enumerates that the legislature has the right to draw the maps," Alzanora said. "I think it's a little, it's a little crazy to see so many people who are just so unaware of the constitutional crisis that's going on in Utah right now."
Miller supports the citizen commission model as created in Prop 4. He expressed optimism about Utah voters' priorities regarding redistricting reform.
"I find it really interesting and kind of uplifting that it was able to pass the first time," Miller said. "It's honestly really uplifting that people in Utah care about voting fairness more than they care necessarily about partisan division."
During my conversations with about 25 students, roughly half reported being approached by signature gatherers.
I did a couple of interviews with students who later asked me not to use them. While the camera was on, they reported positive impressions of the petitioners who approached them. A few minutes later, they told me they realized the petition was the opposite of what they wanted and felt like the gatherers had misled them.
