Utah Supreme Court crushes constitutional amendment deemed 'counterfactual' by lower court

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Utah Supreme Court crushes constitutional amendment deemed ‘counterfactual’ by lower court

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM
Updated 11:18 PM EDT, September 25, 2024

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah voters will not decide this November on a constitutional amendment asking voters to cede power over ballot measures to lawmakers after the Utah Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court decision voiding the amendment.

The five-justice panel grilled attorneys for the Legislature earlier Wednesday before siding with opponents of the amendment who argued it would have been presented to voters in a misleading manner. Republican legislative leaders, who penned the ballot question, had asked the high court to overturn a district judge’s ruling and put Amendment D back before the public.

The amendment would have given lawmakers constitutional authority to rewrite voter-approved ballot measures or repeal them entirely. Lawmakers also could have applied their new power to initiatives from past election cycles.

But the summary that voters would have seen on their ballots only asked if the state constitution should be changed to “strengthen the initiative process” and to clarify the roles of legislators and voters.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/utah-constitutional-amendment-voting-rights-622fd9d4ff15c23ce8ad5f44dad7c333

[machoneman]

1. More R ratfuckery before the election.