ST. GEORGE — The League of Women Voters and Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) hosted an informal gathering Wednesday night at the Gardner House to discuss the issue of redistricting.
Kimberly Powell, chapter director for MWEG, drove from Salt Lake City through snow and ice to make it to St. George in time for the meeting.
“This is an issue of principles,” Powell told St. George News after the meeting. “Democracy is based on the right to vote. That’s how we make it work for everyone, is when everyone has an equally weighted vote.”
According to a press release, MWEG is a nonprofit organization rooted in four core attributes: faithful, nonpartisan, peaceful and proactive.
Their mission is to inspire women of faith to be ambassadors of peace and transcend partisanship and courageously advocate for ethical government.
MWEG is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but MWEG does honor and sustain the church’s doctrines and leaders.
“We do have a good group of members here in St. George and Washington County,” Powell said. “I don’t know that we have a lot yet but we have strong members. So what they don’t have in quantity they have in quality.”
Redistricting is a national issue that has a major impact on Utah, Powell said.
“MWEG has been planning meetings to go out and educate all Utahns anywhere,” said Powell, adding that meetings have been held in or are planned in St. George, Provo, Salt Lake, Logan and Centerville, among others.
“We’re very passionate about education. People around the state need to know what’s happening and be involved and be informed,” she added.
League of Women Voters Utah President Kathy Biele was at the meeting and echoed the importance of educating voters about redistricting and encouraged women voters in particular to participate.
“Every voice should be heard,” Biele told St. George News. “If you are redistricted in a way that the legislators or your representatives save their spot, then you are not being heard. We want everybody to have a voice.”
The primary topic of conversation was a case before the U.S. Supreme Court about a lawsuit that challenges the congressional maps drawn by, among others, the Utah State Legislature in November 2021.
According to The Associated Press, the high court convened Wednesday to consider whether state courts can rely on their state constitutions — as the North Carolina Supreme Court did — to strike down politically rigged voting districts for congressional elections.
Similar court battles involving Utah, Kentucky and New Mexico make similar claims that U.S. House districts enacted by state legislatures after the 2020 census violated their state constitutions.
North Carolina’s top Republican lawmakers contend that the U.S. Constitution gives power over federal elections only to state legislatures and Congress — an argument known as the “independent state legislature” theory. A broad embrace of the theory by the high court could upend hundreds of election laws across the U.S.
The Associated Press also reported that, in Utah, the Republican-led Legislature and governor ignored the recommendations of an independent commission and enacted their own U.S. House districts after the census.
A lawsuit pending in state court claims the map violates the state constitution’s guarantee of “free” elections, “equal protection” as well as the freedoms of speech and assembly. Attorneys for the Legislature have asked the state Supreme Court to halt the case.
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