In a saga that started and ended with the Utah Supreme Court, on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 25 the court ruled against proposed constitutional amendment D, taking it off the Nov. ballot. The decision upheld a lower court’s decision that the legislature did not follow the constitutional guidelines of publishing the proposed amendment in a newspaper and that the amendment used deceptive presentation in its wording.

Oral arguments for the case were heard early Wednesday morning, with the Supreme Court only needing a few hours to come to their unanimous decision. The four-paragraph unsigned order from the court laid out their reasoning for the decision,” 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 voters to express their will.’”

The Justices ruled that not only did the legislature fail to publish the text of the amendment in newspapers in the time frame laid out in the state constitution, but they also did not word the amendment on the ballot in such a way that voters would be able to fully understand. The wording was written by House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams.

Schultz and Adams released a joint statement regarding the ruling which read,” 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 amendment D out of the voters’ hands.” The duo continued,” It’s a sad day for Utah and voters, whether for or against the constitutional amendments.”

The proposed amendment would have given the state legislature the power to change or repeal citizen ballot initiatives. This amendment came from an emergency joint session of the state legislature, with the emergency being the State Supreme Court ruling that the legislature could only tweak citizen ballot initiatives to facilitate the will of the people, but legislative changes to government reform initiatives must be narrowly tailored and serve a “compelling” state interest.

Mark Gaber, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, issued the following after the ruling was released,” The Utah Supreme Court upheld a fundamental principle that never should have been in doubt – the government must honestly present the questions voters are asked to decide. The Utah legislature failed at every step in this process and voters will now see their constitutional rights affirmed.”

The ruling also spells trouble for proposed amendment A, which removes a constitutional budget requirement that income-tax dollars must be spent on education and social services; and is currently being challenged in court by the Utah Education Association. 

None of the proposed constitutional amendments on the general election ballot met the requirement set by Article XXIII of the Utah Constitution, which requires that the full text of these ballot initiatives be published in state newspapers at least two months before the measure goes on the ballot. 

Amendment D will still appear on the ballot, but no votes will be counted toward it.