After 78 days, Utah Prop. 4 repeal campaign finally reaches halfway

After 78 days of collecting signatures, the campaign to repeal Utah’s anti-gerrymandering law, Proposition 4, finally limped to the halfway mark—just 11 days before the deadline.

Also on Wednesday, Better Boundaries, the group that was initially behind Prop. 4 when voters approved it in 2018, announced it launched a campaign urging people who have signed the petition to remove their names, following reports of voters being misled by signature gatherers. The group sent thousands of mailers to voters who signed the petition with information about what the repeal would do and how to remove their names.

“We at Better Boundaries believe voters deserve transparency and honesty in the democratic process,” said Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of Better Boundaries, in a press release announcing the signature rescission campaign.

According to updated signature totals, organizers added 2,507 new verified signatures on Feb. 4, their second-best day since they began collecting signatures in November. Total verified signatures sit at 70,401, half of the statewide requirement of 140,748. They still need 70,347 more, with the deadline for collecting and submitting petitions on Feb. 15. That’s an average of 6,395 per day between now and the deadline.

The campaign is still on track to fall far short of reaching the geographic requirement for inclusion on November’s ballot. Organizers must secure signatures from 8% of voters in 26 of Utah’s 29 Senate districts. So far, they’ve only hit the goal in two of them. Even if they reach the statewide goal, they only qualify in 11 districts, still 15 short of what they need.

Republican groups and conservative organizations like Turning Point USA are conducting events across the state in a late surge to secure enough signatures before the Feb. 15 deadline.