Action Alert

Recently, Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff have challenged the efforts of several groups to make it easier, faster, and cheaper for Utahns to make their voice heard through the ballot initiative process and the collection of signatures online.

We urge you to take a few minutes today to write a letter to the editor of your local newspapers.

Help us draw attention to both the need for an independent redistricting commission, and the right of Utah voters to use new technologies to engage and be a direct part of the political process. Letters should be no more than 200 words, and include your contact information (required, but never published).

Click here for talking points

Click here for sample letters

Click here to find contact information for your local paper

Below you will find several convenient talking points to include (in your own words, of course, please don't cut and paste) and information on submitting your letters to local print organizations.

Remember: every time Fair Boundaries and the eSignature process receive a mention in local newspapers, we get one step closer to representative government!  Please take a moment to write your own letter to the editor in support of the Fair Boundaries initiative and the eSignature process.

Points You may want to Discuss in your Letters to the Editor:

• In 1981, President Ronald Reagan said "I can't help but wonder if the time hasn't come to take reapportionment out of politics and have it done by a blue ribbon citizen committee on the basis of what is good for the people, not just the party that happens to be in power." Fair Boundaries shares that goal!

• In what the Wall Street Journal called a 'scam' that resulted in 'disenfranchisement' of Utah voters, our district boundaries have been drawn to protect elected officials, not the interests of voters. Need proof? Take a look at Tooele County's senate districts or Summit County's house districts (maps at www.fairboundaries.org).

•Technology is rapidly changing the way we do everything, and the eSignature process in ballot initiative signing is the next logical step. The use of on-line signatures in the initiative process is, in many ways, better than a paper-based process because it makes voter participation more convenient, provides a higher degree of security, and makes signature verification by county officials easier, faster, cheaper, and more accurate.

• Your vote is your voice. Make it count by supporting redistricting reform and an independent process. With this initiative we intend to set up a fair and independent redistricting commission and eliminate an obvious conflict of interest: elected officials drawing their own districts.

• Click here to read recent articles you may choose to reference in your letter can be found in our news section

• Urge registered voters to find a signing location or sign online at www.fairboundaries.org, and tell their family and friends.

Sign your Petitions

Some legislators out there are complaining that people are signing the Fair Boundaries petition without reading them and that is proof that the petition shouldn’t pass. This is just absurd. Not only does every single petition signer have the opportunity to read the petition before signing, but the petition process only means that the signer wants the law to go on the ballot – not become law.

I think legislators are afraid of how eager people are to sign petitions calling for fairer boundaries.

I encourage everyone to sign the Fair Boundaries petition online by visiting www.fairboundaries.org, and send a message that the people want their voices heard.

Why we need Fair Boundaries

The process of redistricting and the perversion of this, gerrymandering, is not one many people are aware of…they are only aware of the symptoms.

Every ten years the Utah State Legislature redraws political maps, and some of these maps have to make you wonder if politicians are more interested in staying in power rather than representing people. Even The Wall Street Journal said in 2001 that Utah was one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation.

This needs to change; gerrymandering harms our democracy. People do not feel their vote, and their voice, count because politicians don’t need to listen to the people.

Go sign the Fair Boundaries petition in person or online at www.fairboundaries.org to ensure that a fair and just system is set up to ensure that your vote counts.

Electronic Signatures are the Future

I just finished signing Fair Boundaries electronic petition at www.fairboundaries.org, and nothing could have been easier to do.

All too often people feel that there is nothing they can do to change how things are, or they are overwhelmed by their day to day lives to take the time to, say, find a petition and sign it. Well, with this new e-petition, making your voice heard is as easy as checking your email.

It took me about one minute to log on and sign. For those of you who want to read the petition, that too is available before you ever put your “pen to paper.”

Go visit Fair Boundaries and sign online. It is something you can do to make a real change in our state. I am excited to see this kind of direct democracy and hope that this will be an option for petition signers for years to come.

Divided lines in United Communities

Did you know that if you were to drive from west to east the one mile along 6th Avenue in Salt Lake you would start in Federal House District 1, cross the street and be in District 2, drive a block and be back in District 1, drive four more blocks and be in District 2, drive another block to be back, again in District 1, then drive two more blocks before ending up in District two?

Did you know that Moab is literally cut down the middle, with residents on the east side of town in State House District 69 while those on the west side are in District 55?

Did you know that Tooele has three senate districts but no senators from the town of 30,000 and the county has four seats and no resident senator despite its population of 50,000?

Did you know that residents in Park City are represented by a senator that lives some 150 miles away in Vernal?

These are just some of the most obvious examples of how our state has been carved up to benefit politicians and it smacks of a legislature, who is in charge of drawing these maps, that does not care that the system is broken. That is why I encourage everyone to sign the Fair Boundaries petition, either in person or online at www.fairboundaries.org. We can make the system better and our democracy stronger, but it starts with the people demanding that their voice be heard.