GOP chair says enough signatures gathered to put Prop 4 repeal on ballot

SALT LAKE CITY — Leaders of Utahns for Representative Government, the group at the helm of the effort to overturn Proposition 4, say they have gathered enough signatures to put the repeal before voters this November, though state election officials have not yet confirmed the numbers.

Large bins filled with signature packets were delivered to the Salt Lake County clerk’s office Friday ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline.

“We have well north of 200,000 signatures that we have submitted across the state,” Utah GOP Chair and Utahns for Representative Government co-founder Rob Axson said. “We know the threshold requirements in each of the Senate districts. We have exceeded those.”

County clerks now have 21 days to verify the signatures. The lieutenant governor’s office, which oversees statewide elections, said it had no updates to report Sunday night.

Proposition 4, approved by voters in 2018, created an independent redistricting commission and set rules intended to prevent gerrymandering.

Better Boundaries, the group behind this legislation, sent KSL a statement Sunday:

“Voters spoke clearly when they passed Proposition 4, and we respect the democratic process that made that possible. We are closely monitoring the signature-gathering effort and will continue to do so as the Lt. Governor’s office completes its verification. Regardless of the outcome, our organization remains committed to upholding the will of the voters and will take every appropriate step to ensure their decision is honored.”

The effort to repeal Proposition 4 has drawn scrutiny after multiple voters told KSL they felt misled about what they were signing. KSL Investigators previously documented cases where voters said they were confused or misinformed. Some have since asked to have their signatures removed.

“We have seen an uptick in people requesting to have their signature removed,” Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman said. “They can either come into our office or any of the county clerk’s offices throughout the state. We also have the form available online. You can fill it out. We have to have a wet signature, so we need that form printed and either mailed to us or brought in in person.”

Chapman said those who wish to remove their name must do so within 45 days from the date they signed the petition.

Chris Null, a volunteer signature gatherer and Republican candidate for Salt Lake County Council District Five, told KSL how he explained the petition to voters.

“The constitution requires that the legislature draw the maps, but under the current Proposition 4, the legislature is not able to do that, and that the judge has imposed a map that is highly democratic leaning, and it’s not representative of Utah,” Null said.

Salt Lake City resident Bob Barr attended the final signature‑gathering event Friday to make sure signers understood what the petition would do.

“I ask them, ‘Do you know exactly what it is you’re signing?’” he said. “Quite often, people will say it’s for Proposition 4. I tell them, ‘no, this is to rescind Proposition 4, to take the power away from the people who voted for it.’”

KSL asked Axson if they’d do anything differently during this signature gathering process, given the numerous claims about misleading gatherers, prompting more than 2,300 Utahns to request their name be removed.

“The thing that I would hope that would be different next time is that the media would talk about the hundreds of thousands of Utahns who had a wonderful experience,” he said. “This is an issue that Utahns care about and we trust now the process of putting it into the hands of our voters come November and we’ll see where they want to go.”

County clerks will begin verifying signatures Tuesday, after the Presidents’ Day holiday.