Amendment D’s invalid decision is upheld by the Utah Supreme Court

Salt Lake City, Utah – To prevent Amendment D from being tallied on the November ballot, a lower court’s ruling was supported by the Utah Supreme Court.

The state’s highest court decided unanimously that the Utah State Legislature did not appropriately announce the amendment as required by the Utah Constitution, hours after arguments were held on Wednesday. Additionally, they discovered that the ballot text, which sided with Mormon Women for Ethical Government and the League of Women Voters of Utah, was deceptive and had been submitted by Republican legislative leaders.

“The district court made the right decision in holding that Amendment D did not satisfy any constitutional requirements. In a Wednesday night order, the Court stated that the Legislature failed to publish the amendment in state newspapers for a period of two months, and the language that will be on the ballot does not present the amendment to voters in a way that would allow them to express their preferences.

Additionally, the district court exercised its discretion when it determined that the balance of probabilities supported a preliminary injunction nullifying Amendment D and prohibiting the counting of any votes cast. The public interest demands that constitutional amendments be put to voters in the manner specified by the state constitution, which is embodied in the Utah Constitution, even though voters should have the chance to determine whether Amendment D strikes the right balance between the people’s direct legislative power and that of their elected representatives.”

Votes cast on Amendment D will simply not be tallied, even though it will still be on the ballot. One of the plaintiffs expressed satisfaction with the court’s ruling in an interview.

“In my opinion, this decision upholds the people’s constitutional right to an open and just procedure. That offers excellent information so they may decide appropriately,” co-founder Emma Petty Addams of Mormon Women for Ethical Government stated.

House Speaker Mike Schultz (R-Hooper) and Senate President J. Stuart Adams (R-Layton) criticized the decision in a statement.

The Court’s decision is alarming and unprecedented. The Legislature presented the Court with an opportunity to protect every Utahn’s right to vote on Amendment D, but the Court chose to deny the people their right to vote. Whether voters are in favor of or against the constitutional amendments, today is a sad day for Utah,” they declared.

The assembly was contesting the nullification of Amendment D earlier this month by a judge in a lower court. The League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, which argued that the ballot language misled voters, were supported by the judge. The court decided to keep Amendment D on the ballot, but she also decided that votes in favor of it would not be tallied.

The hearing on Wednesday represented a trip back to the Utah Supreme Court, which issued the first decision that gave rise to the constitutional amendment proposal. In July, a unanimous decision by the state’s highest court declared that the legislature had overreached itself when it rejected a citizen-led ballot initiative regarding independent redistricting. The legislature called an emergency special session to put Amendment D on the ballot because they were concerned about the ruling’s implications. Republican legislative leaders have claimed that Utah could end up “like California” with a wave of citizen initiatives funded by outside money and that they wouldn’t be able to address any issues with initiatives that do pass.