SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court has upheld a lower court's decision to void Amendment D, keeping it from being counted on the November ballot.
In a unanimous ruling issued hours after arguments were made on Wednesday, the state's top court ruled the Utah State Legislature failed to properly notice the amendment as the Utah constitution requires. They also found the ballot language put forward by Republican legislative leaders was misleading, siding with the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
"The district court correctly ruled that neither constitutional prerequisite was met with respect to Amendment D. The Legislature did not cause the amendment to be published in newspapers throughout the state for two months, and the description that will appear on the ballot does not submit the amendment to voters 'with such clarity as to enable the voters to express their will,'" an order by the Court issued Wednesday night said.
"The district court also acted within its discretion in finding that the equities favored a preliminary injunction declaring Amendment D void and ordering that any votes cast will not be counted. Although the voters should have the opportunity to decide whether Amendment D strikes the correct balance between the people’s direct legislative power and that of their elected representatives, the public interest requires that constitutional amendments be submitted to voters in the way mandated by the supreme law of the state embodied in the Utah Constitution."
Amendment D will still appear on the ballot but votes cast on it simply will not be counted. In an interview with FOX 13 News, one of the plaintiffs was pleased with the decision by the Court.
"I think what this ruling does, it affirms the right, the constitutional right of the people to a process that's both transparent and correct. That has good information so they can make the right decision," said Emma Petty Addams, one of Mormon Women for Ethical Government's co-founders.
In a statement to FOX 13 News, House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, blasted the ruling.
“The Court’s action is unprecedented and troubling. The Legislature offered the Court a way to preserve the voting rights of all Utahns, but instead, the Court took the chance to vote on Amendment D out of the voters’ hands. It’s a sad day for Utah and voters, whether for or against the constitutional amendments," they said.
The legislature was appealing a lower court judge's decision earlier this month to void Amendment D. That judge sided with the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, who challenged the ballot language as misleading to voters. The judge allowed Amendment D to be kept on the ballot, but any votes cast for it simply would not be counted.
Wednesday's hearing was a return trip to the same Utah Supreme Court that sparked the initial ruling that led to the proposed constitutional amendment. The state's top court unanimously ruled in July that the legislature overstepped its powers when it overrode a citizen ballot initiative on independent redistricting. Alarmed by the impact of the ruling — Republican legislative leaders have argued that Utah could become "like California" with a flood of citizen initiatives fueled by out-of-state money and that their hands could be tied to fix any problems with initiatives that do pass — the legislature called itself into an emergency special session to put Amendment D on the ballot.
Opponents of Amendment D call it a legislative "power grab."
