Current:Home > MarketsWatchdogs ask judge to remove from Utah ballots a measure that would boost lawmakers’ power -CapitalSource
Watchdogs ask judge to remove from Utah ballots a measure that would boost lawmakers’ power
View
Date:2025-04-13 09:10:50
Government watchdog groups in Utah are asking a judge to remove from November’s ballot a measure that would bolster lawmakers’ power.
The question would amend the state constitution to allow lawmakers to change citizen-initiated ballot measures after they have passed. It would also give citizen initiative efforts more time to gather signatures and bar foreign influence on ballot measures.
The legal filing is the latest episode in a long-running tug-of-war over control of the legislative and congressional maps but could have implications for other areas covered by citizen-initiated ballot measures, too. The issue is a glimpse into a pattern of state lawmakers trying to subvert the will of voters when it comes to control of political maps.
The League of Women Voters, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and other plaintiffs in a long-running lawsuit say lawmakers changed election deadlines to rush to the ballot a measure to undermine the say of voters. They also say the language that voters will see on ballots does not describe what the measure would do.
“Instead, it seeks through deception to mislead Utah voters into surrendering their constitutional rights,” they say in the legal filing, The plaintiffs, represented by the Campaign Legal Center, say that the ballot language makes it sound like the measure is protecting voters’ rights but doesn’t mention where it would roll them back.
“The text of the Amendment — in sweeping language — wholesale exempts the Legislature from complying with any constitutional provision when it acts to amend, repeal, or enact laws in relation to voter-approved initiatives,” the filing says.
The groups are calling on a federal court to remove the measure from the ballot quickly, as ballots are to be sent to overseas and miliary voters starting Sept. 20.
This part of the legal dispute was years in the making. In 2018, voters approved a ballot measure that created an independent commission to draw legislative districts every decade. The commission would send its recommendation to the Legislature, which could approve those maps or redraw them. The measure also barred drawing districts lines to protect incumbents or favor a political party, a practice known as gerrymandering. Lawmakers removed that provision in 2020.
And lawmakers ended up ignoring the commission’s congressional map and passing its own, splitting relatively liberal Salt Lake City into four districts — each of which is now represented by a Republican.
In July, the Utah Supreme Court — with all five of its justices appointed by Republicans — ruled that the GOP had overstepped its bounds by undoing the ban on political gerrymandering.
Lawmakers responded by holding a special session in August to add a measure to November’s ballot to ask voters to grant them a power that the state’s top court held they did not have.
State Sen. Kirk Cullimore, a Republican and sponsor of the proposal, said at the time that the court ruling made ballot initiatives into “super laws” that would not be subject to the same revisions as those passed by the Legislature. Cullimore did not return a call Friday from The Associated Press.
Changes to the political mapmaking process have been the impetus for attempts to change the state constitution in other states, too.
Missouri voters approved a redistricting process in 2018 intended to create “partisan fairness” in voting districts. Lawmakers promptly placed a new amendment on the ballot to undo some of the key elements, and voters agreed to the new version in 2020.
In 2022, Arizona lawmakers placed on the ballot a proposal that would allow them to amend or repeal entire voter-approved measures if any portion of them is found unconstitutional or illegal by the state or federal Supreme Court. Voters defeated it.
This year, an advocacy group has won a spot on the ballot in Ohio for a measure that would appoint a new commission to draw legislative and congressional maps. State Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, objected twice to the ballot measure language.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Hollywood goes on strike as actors join writers on picket lines, citing existential threat to profession
- The Chess Game Continues: Exxon, Under Pressure, Says it Will Take More Steps to Cut Emissions. Investors Are Not Impressed
- Disney CEO Bob Iger extends contract for an additional 2 years, through 2026
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Turbulence during Allegiant Air flight hospitalizes 4 in Florida
- Kylie Jenner Is Not OK After This Cute Exchange With Son Aire
- Missing Titanic Tourist Submersible: Identities of People Onboard Revealed
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- The Fed raises interest rates by only a quarter point after inflation drops
Ranking
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- Tornadoes touch down in Chicago area, grounding flights and wrecking homes
- EPA to Probe Whether North Carolina’s Permitting of Biogas From Swine Feeding Operations Violates Civil Rights of Nearby Neighborhoods
- Wildfire Smoke: An Emerging Threat to West Coast Wines
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- In the Arctic, Less Sea Ice and More Snow on Land Are Pushing Cold Extremes to Eastern North America
- A new bill in Florida would give the governor control of Disney's governing district
- Tom Brady ends his football playing days, but he's not done with the sport
Recommendation
The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
Florida’s Majestic Manatees Are Starving to Death
Rumer Willis Shares Photo of Bruce Willis Holding First Grandchild
The Chess Game Continues: Exxon, Under Pressure, Says it Will Take More Steps to Cut Emissions. Investors Are Not Impressed
The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
Inside Clean Energy: The Racial Inequity in Clean Energy and How to Fight It
One journalist was killed for his work. Another finished what he started
Manufacturer recalls eyedrops after possible link to bacterial infections