A coalition of groups opposing the constitutional amendment that would guarantee that legislators could repeal or amend any voter initiative are launching a “Vote No” campaign at the Utah Capitol on Monday.
The effort will bring together Better Boundaries — which led the anti-gerrymandering initiative that is the primary target of the constitutional amendment — with partners in the Let Utah Vote Coalition, which includes Stewardship Utah, the Disability Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union.
“This is a complete power grab,” said Katie Wright, executive director of Better Boundaries. “We’re not alone in being frustrated with it. People have really rallied.”
Wright also anticipates the plaintiffs in Better Utah’s lawsuit against the Legislature — The League of Women Voters and Mormon Women For Ethical Government — will be part of the effort.
Another anti-amendment group, the People’s Initiative Reform Coalition, filed paperwork with the state elections office earlier this week to create a political issues committee, or PIC.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Katie Wright, Better Boundaries Executive Director, is joined by supporters as they gather at the Utah Capitol celebrate a Utah Supreme Court ruling that the Legislature overstepped its authority when it rewrote a 2018 voter-approved ballot initiative in drawing new congressional districts on Thursday, July 11, 2024.
Speakers at the noon rally will include former Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham — who served on the Independent Redistricting Commission created by the initiative. The commission unanimously approved maps with new political boundaries that were not based on which political party might benefit, but the Legislature ignored them.
The maps the Legislature drew split Salt Lake County into four congressional districts. The League and MWEG sued, along with several individuals who were impacted, arguing that legislators defied the will of voters when they repealed the initiative’s ban on partisan gerrymandering and carved up the most liberal portion of the state, effectively disenfranchising voters.
The Utah Supreme Court agreed, and in a unanimous ruling last month the five justices — all of them Republican appointees — said that the state Constitution guarantees voters the right to make law, a right that becomes meaningless if legislators simply are able to undo the will of the people.
On Monday, Durham will address what the court’s ruling did — and did not — say and how the change proposed in the Republican Legislature’s constitutional amendment would impact ballot measures.
Wright said two legislators will also be on hand: Rep. Rosemary Lesser, D-Ogden, and Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah Senate meets to discuss a constitutional amendment over citizen initiatives in the Senate during a special session, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024.
Thatcher, one of two Republican senators who voted against the amendment, said during the debate on Wednesday, “I don’t think it is likely to pass in November. But I do think this will give us the biggest black eye we could have as a Legislature.”
T.J. Ellerbeck, co-director of Stewardship Utah, said the Rural Utah Project had worked for seven years on voting issues and pro-democracy issues before merging with O2 Utah to form the new organization, but it remains invested in those issues.
“I think Utahns have essentially voted on this already in 2018, so its silly that we have to vote on it again. Utahns are opposed to it,” he said. “If they have information and understand what the Legislature is trying to do, they’re going to vote against this.”
Ellerbeck said it is frustrating that lawmakers rushed the measure to the ballot — even changing the ballot deadlines in order to get it on in November. It leaves the opposition just over 10 weeks to make its case to voters.
“We’re going to have to work on a fast timeline to get the word out to people that this is a power grab,” he said.