SALT LAKE CITY — A judge may issue a ruling tonight on whether Amendment D will go on the November ballot.
After an emergency hearing on Wednesday, 3rd District Court Judge Dianna Gibson said she may issue a decision tonight after lawyers for Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson urged a swift decision given that ballots must be printed tomorrow.
The League of Women Voters of Utah, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and a group of people asked the judge to issue an emergency injunction blocking Amendment D from even being placed on the ballot. Their lawyers argued that the language being put on the ballot for voters to decide is "misleading" about its true intent.
"It tells voters that if they pass the amendment, it will establish requirements that the legislature respect the intent of the voters. That is the exact opposite of what the amendment does," the plaintiff's attorney, Mark Gaber, told reporters outside of court.
Republican legislative leaders have insisted the language is accurate. While it does prohibit foreign spending on citizen ballot initiatives and increase signature gathering time, the language does not explicitly say it would undo a Utah Supreme Court ruling on citizen initiatives and referendums. The state's top court ruled the legislature overstepped its powers when it overrode a citizen ballot initiative creating an independent redistricting commission, setting limits on lawmakers' power to change initiatives that "alter or reform government."
That was something Judge Gibson focused on in her questioning of Tyler Green, an attorney representing the Utah State Legislature.
"It basically abrogates the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in this case. And the summary does not explain that. So does that omission make it inaccurate?" she asked Green.
Green insisted to her the language is accurate.
"That’s a view certainly of a legal consequence that’s their view of what happens," Green said of the plaintiffs.
Following the Court's ruling back in July, the legislature met in a special session to advance a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. Republican legislative leaders have argued that without the amendment, Utah could face a flood of citizen initiatives funded by outside interests turning the state "into California," which sees a large number of initiatives on the ballot each election cycle. They also allege the Court's ruling ties their hands to fix any problems with citizen initiatives that do pass.
But opponents of Amendment D, including the plaintiffs, argue it is a "power grab" by the legislature overriding the will of the people.
"The reality is we’re in this position today because of an emergency session about an issue that did not need to be made into an emergency," Emma Petty Addams, the co-chair of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, told FOX 13 News outside of court.
Lt. Gov. Henderson is taking no position on the ballot language itself, her attorneys told Judge Gibson, but they proposed an alternative resolution: "If the court’s inclined to grant some sort of injunction relief, allowing Amendment D on the ballot and not counting it would likely insert some de minimus cost, it would eliminate the need for a bond."
The losing side is expected to go back to the Utah Supreme Court to seek relief.
This is a breaking news story. Updates on FOX 13 News and fox13now.com as more information becomes available.
