“All political power is inherent in the people; and all free governments are founded on their authority for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right to alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require.” – The Utah Constitution, Declaration of Rights
The Utah Legislature will be telling you another story before November.
Do not be fooled. Legislators who voted to put this amendment on the November ballot were either misinformed or clinging to power that is yours. Along with Better Boundaries, we have launched the Vote No campaign because voters’ rights should not be taken lightly.
Now that the Utah Supreme Court has ruled in League of Women Voters of Utah v Utah State Legislature, we had expected the legislature to regroup and prepare for lower court arguments. Instead, they called a Special Session to pass out a hurried and worrisome constitutional amendment.
Here is what you will be hearing from them:
They say that Utah will become another California with unbridled initiatives.
In fact, the ruling is narrow in scope and says “the people cannot use an initiative to amend the Utah Constitution,” and the ruling does not give initiatives special status. This ruling only pertains to initiatives that would reform government.
While the court agreed that “legislative power generally includes the power to amend and repeal existing statutes,” they noted that “Utahns used their legislative power to actively address partisan gerrymandering comprehensively, by completely prohibiting the practice, reforming the redistricting process as a whole, establishing neutral redistricting criteria, and providing an enforcement mechanism.”
The legislature may make “changes that do impair the reforms enacted by the people … if the Legislature shows that they were narrowly tailored to advance a compelling government interest.”
Legislative leaders say they only want to return us to the way it has been for 130 years - to make sure we keep Utah, Utah.
In fact, “it was through their own sovereign authority that Utahns retained for themselves the power of direct legislation. … The drafters of the Utah Constitution made a conscious choice to include these principles in the Declaration of Rights.”
Utahns therefore “viewed their own state constitutional provisions as the sole source of constitutional protection” against the state government, and they “necessarily intended that this Court should be . . . the ultimate and final arbiter of the meaning of the provisions in the Utah Declaration of Rights.”
Utah's Declaration of Rights, Article I of the Utah Constitution, was drafted in 1895.
They are offering you a bone by extending the signature collection period for the referendum process - 20 more days to the process for gathering the requisite signatures (8% of active voters for statewide initiatives in 15 of the 29 state senate districts).
Maybe that helps regular initiatives a little. Right now, it requires 26 of the 29 senate districts and 134,298 signatures. Sponsors must submit a petition packet to the appropriate county clerk before 5:00 pm no later than the earlier of:
30 calendar days after the day on which the first individual signs the initiative packet
316 calendar days after the day on which the original initiative application was filed
They want to prohibit foreign entities from contributing to initiatives.
There are no examples of this ever happening. Legislators frequently complain about “outside entities” contributing to initiatives, but the Legislature has made the process both difficult and expensive. Some initiatives have used paid signature gatherers. They are not outside entities seeking to influence Utah law.
The decision was made by “unelected judges.”
At this time, judges are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate using a merit-based formula.
Finally, I recommend reading the entire 84-page Supreme Court decision. It hearkens back to historical documents, uses sound reasoning, and is eminently readable.
