According to the latest tallies recorded to the lieutenant governor’s website Monday morning, county clerks had verified 57,437 signatures submitted by the political issues committee Utahns for Representative Government, which was founded by Utah Republican Party Chairman Rob Axson.

In order to pose the repeal question to voters on the November ballot, the GOP must collect at least 140,748 valid signatures from registered voters across Utah while meeting specific thresholds in at least 26 of Utah’s 29 Senate districts.

That means the group needs to obtain and submit at least 83,311 more valid signatures by Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.

It’s likely, however, the group has collected more signatures than what is currently reflected on the lieutenant governor’s website because totals are posted after county clerks verify signature packets.

In response to a request for an interview Monday about the effort’s progress, Axson told Utah News Dispatch in a text message that the 57,437 signatures tallied on the lieutenant governor’s website as of Monday morning is “many weeks old,” adding there is a “substantial lag” from when signatures are gathered to when they are verified by clerks and posted online.

County clerks have 21 days from when they receive each signature gathering packet to verify signatures. The final day for clerks to verify signatures is March 7.

Trump looks to give repeal effort a boost

As the deadline looms, President Donald Trump looked to give the signature gathering effort a boost Friday, when he posted a call to action to Utahns on Truth Social, calling the Proposition 4 repeal effort “very important” to “KEEP UTAH RED.”

The president echoed complaints from the Utah Republican Party and GOP lawmakers about the state’s new congressional boundaries recently ordered by a judge to be used for the 2026 elections. The courts determined the 2021 Utah Legislature violated Utahns’ constitutional rights when it repealed and replaced Proposition 4 and adopted a congressional map that year that wasn’t drawn using the measure’s independent commission or neutral map-drawing standards.

After determining the Utah Legislature’s proposed remedial map again didn’t adhere to Proposition 4’s neutral standards meant to guard against gerrymandering, 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson chose an alternative map drawn by plaintiffs in the redistricting lawsuit that she concluded did adhere to map-drawing standards outlined by Proposition 4, which she restored as law.

Utah’s court-ordered map created a Democratic-majority congressional district concentrated around northern Salt Lake County and three Republican districts — to the dismay of the state’s Republican leaders. The Legislature has pledged to appeal that decision to the Utah Supreme Court.

“Utahns deserve Maps drawn by those they elect, not Rogue Judges or Leftwing Activists who never faced the Voters, and, therefore, I encourage all Patriotic Utahns, Republicans, and MAGA Supporters who love their Great State and Country to sign this initiative, ASAP,” Trump posted, while urging Utahns to attend signature gathering events held over the weekend across the state.

Axson, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, applauded Trump’s post in a statement shared to social media, saying, “it is evident from the President’s message that he deeply cares about Utah, its people, and our future.”

“We greatly appreciate his help to share the message of representative government and constitutional order so that Utah remains true to conservative principles,” Axson said.

It’s not yet clear how much of a bump Trump’s post may have given the Proposition 4 repeal effort.

But as they’ve watched, critics of the repeal effort say it’s lagging far behind what it needs to qualify the question for the ballot.

‘Desperation’

Utah Democratic Party Chairman Brian King called Trump’s Friday statement “desperation — the same strong-arm playbook, trying to intimidate voters instead of facing the truth.”

“Donald Trump and his Utah Republican backers are desperate because they’re finally starting to come to terms with how unpopular their gerrymandering scam actually is,” King said. “Utahns already voted on Prop 4 and made it crystal clear that they demand fair maps, fair elections, and fair representation.”

The Utah GOP has enlisted the help of conservative influencer Scott Presler, who over the weekend posted multiple times on X that he was working hard to gather signatures.

A dark money group that helped finance Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024 is also bankrolling the Proposition 4 repeal effort. The nonprofit Securing American Greatness has contributed more than $4.3 million to Utahns for Representative Government, all of which was spent on its contracted signature gathering company, Patriot Grassroots, according to the group’s financial disclosure reports.

King said despite throwing millions at the effort, “there’s a reason why Republicans are struggling to get the signatures they need and are parachuting Trump in from the sidelines: Utahns don’t want them to manipulate our elections.”

“If Republicans want to earn voters’ trust, they should stop cheating and start actually listening to what Utahns want,” he said.

The anti-gerrymandering group Better Boundaries that successfully sought Proposition 4 back in 2018 and other groups are urging Utahns to “decline to sign” the repeal effort. They’re also encouraging anyone who did sign to go through a process to remove their signatures.

Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of Better Boundaries, reacted to Trump’s statement in a video posted to social media with disbelief that the president said “the quiet part out loud” —  that the purpose of the repeal is to “keep Utah red.”

“Utah’s maps are governed by Utah law, not national politics,” Rasmussen said in a statement issued in response to Trump’s post.

She went on to say the Utah GOP’s efforts to gather enough signatures was falling flat because it’s not popular with Utahns.

“After burning through millions of dollars, outside actors still can’t get enough Utahns to sign on to repealing the reform voters already passed,” she said. “That tells you everything. If this repeal were popular with Utah voters, it wouldn’t need national megaphones and millions of dollars to survive. Prop 4 was about keeping politicians from picking their voters. Utahns meant it then, and they continue to mean it now.”

What do Utahns think about gerrymandering in Utah?

On Monday, Better Boundaries released a poll it commissioned, conducted by the firm Embold Research, that showed 71% of Utah voters believe there should be neutral, independent standards for redistricting in Utah. The poll also found:

• 64% of Utah voters support Proposition 4, including 46% who strongly support and 18% who somewhat support.
• 57% of Utah voters disapprove of the Legislature repealing Proposition 4, including 87% of registered Democrats and 68% of unaffiliated voters. About 47% of registered Republicans also disapprove, according to the poll, but a higher share (25%) said they were unsure.

The poll of 1,731 registered Utah voters was conducted Jan. 12-15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, according to a summary of its findings issued by Embold Research.

“We don’t need to spin or hype these numbers,” Rasmussen said in a prepared statement issued with the poll. “It is clear that Utahns want to choose their politicians, and they don’t believe that politicians should have the power to choose their voters.”

Utah GOP lawmakers confident repeal will qualify for ballot

In a media availability with reporters Monday, some Republican legislators said the repeal signature gathering effort is likely going better than people think — and they argued it’s something that should be put to a vote to let Utahns decide Proposition 4’s ultimate fate.

“I think it’s going really well,” said Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, who lives in the conservative city of Spanish Fork.

McKell said his personal business was used as a venue for a signature gathering event for the repeal effort, and “there were a lot of folks in south Utah county that were excited to come in and sign. … There was a lot of interest in my community.”

Asked about the lagging number of verified signatures posted to the lieutenant governor’s website, McKell said he’s confident “they’ll get the signatures” to qualify the question for the ballot.

House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said he hasn’t been directly involved in the effort, but “you really don’t understand how it’s going … until the last week or two until all the signatures really start to get turned in.”

“There’s a strategy there to be a little late,” Schultz said, though he added, “I don’t know what’s happening and what’s not happening. But I’m confident that it will likely end up on the ballot.”

Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, noted that Proposition 4 passed by a narrow margin — with 50.34% of the vote — and he argued Utah voters should be given another chance to weigh in on the issue.

“Now there’s a group that says, ‘We want to try it again and see if enough people will turn it around,'” Sandall said, questioning why that’s controversial.

Asked about Better Boundaries’ poll, Sandall said he thinks a vote on repealing Proposition 4 will be “a lot closer” than the numbers reflected in that poll, based on “when I talk to people, at least, in my area.”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.