Utahns learned recently that the Utah Republican Party is gathering voter signatures for both a referendum and an initiative as a way to hold control over the state’s four congressional districts.

If you are having trouble keeping up with this process, you are not alone. Even the state’s chief elections official — Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson (a Republican) — is questioning the effort. “This is injecting a level of chaos and confusion into this [redistricting map] process that is completely unprecedented,” Henderson said of the GOP announcement.

The referendum is designed to block the implementation of congressional district Map C, a somewhat less gerrymandered alternative to our current map. The initiative would give the Legislature the opportunity to repeal the fair boundaries provision

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