Attorneys for opponents to a constitutional amendment that would ensure legislators can repeal voter-passed ballot initiatives want a judge to keep the amendment off the November ballot, saying the question being presented to voters is deceptive and “Orwellian doublespeak,” meant to trick voters into giving up their initiative right.
Ballots that were sent to be printed this week will ask voters if they want to “strengthen the ballot initiative process” and if foreign interests should be banned from supporting or opposing ballot measures.
On Thursday, lawyers representing the League of Women Voters, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and several Utah citizens said that ballot language — written by House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams — is so misleading that it violates Utah voters’ constitutional right to fair elections and a free government.
As it is written, the filing argues, the ballot question “not only will fail to inform voters that the proposed amendment eliminates their fundamental constitutional right, but brazenly asserts that the amendment would ‘strengthen’ the initiative process.”
“By seeking to mislead Utah voters into surrendering their fundamental constitutional rights by deception,” it continues, “defendants have violated multiple provisions of the Utah Constitution.”
They are asking a 3rd District Court judge to disqualify the constitutional amendment from the November ballot or, if it is too late to remove it, not count any of the votes for or against the amendment.
In a statement Friday, Schultz and Adams said that it is “ironic that the very people who claim to advocate for greater voter engagement are the same ones trying to obstruct Utahns from having the opportunity to vote on this important matter.”
“The plaintiffs are clearly concerned about leaving it to voters to decide,” they said. “Before initiatives overwhelm and significantly alter our state, Utahns should have the opportunity to voice their opinions.”
The amendment is the Republican Legislature’s response to a July court ruling, in which the Republican-appointed Utah Supreme Court unanimously ruled that lawmakers must respect voters’ constitutional right to reform government through the initiative process when legislators repealed a provision of a 2018 initiative that banned partisan gerrymandering — the practice of drawing political boundaries to give one party more power to the detriment of the other.
The justices directed a lower court to determine if the state had a “compelling” interest in repealing the provision. If not, Utah’s congressional boundaries will likely have to be redrawn.
Republican legislative leaders were outraged by the ruling, arguing it would tie their hands and prevent them from adjusting future ballot measures, thus creating a class of “super laws” beyond lawmakers’ reach. Last month, they convened a special session to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that overturns the court’s ruling and explicitly states that legislators have ultimate authority to repeal or amend any voter-approved initiative they want.
In order for it to take effect, the amendment still has to be approved by a majority of voters in November’s general election.
The verbiage Schultz and Adams wrote for the ballot asks voters if the constitution should be amended to “strengthen the initiative process by prohibiting foreign influence on ballot initiatives and referendums [and ] clarifying the voters and legislative bodies’ ability to amend laws.”
The plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that the question on the ballot is worded so deceptively that it is likely to trick voters who support maintaining the ballot initiative process into voting for an amendment that would dramatically weaken it.
“The ballot summary brazenly lies to Utah voters to trick them into surrendering their constitutional rights, informing them that a ‘yes’ vote would ‘strengthen’ the initiative process. This is a shameful deceit,” attorney Mark Gaber with the Campaign Legal Center, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
“This violates the Utah Constitution,” he said. “The government cannot submit a false description of an amendment to voters. It violates voters’ right to free elections, free speech, the right to vote and to have a free government.”
Ballot Initiative Amendment Challenge by Robert Gehrke on Scribd
Earlier this year, Republican legislators passed a bill that took the responsibility for writing the ballot language out of the hands of the nonpartisan legislative attorneys and gave it to the House speaker and Senate president.
Schultz and Adams have defended the phrasing of the ballot question, saying their goal was to provide “a straightforward and concise description to allow voters to easily understand the core of the proposed changes.”
They said it was modeled after language used for previous constitutional amendments. “Those who label these efforts as deceptive are often the ones attempting to mislead voters,” the lawmakers contend.
Both Democratic and some Republican lawmakers, however, have said it is misleading.
Provo Republican Rep. Marsha Judkins said this week that the ballot shouldn’t refer to the amendment as strengthening the initiative process.
“Tell me how this strengthens the initiative process, that’s the part I don’t understand. To me it weakens it,” she said.
Bountiful Republican Rep. Ray Ward said it “reads like an advertisement for [the amendment] as opposed to neutral language.”