The constitutional Amendment A ballot question that asks Utah voters to consider changing how state income tax revenue can be spent is now void, a judge ordered Wednesday.
Amendment A may still appear on printed ballots but votes on the question will not be counted, 3rd District Judge Laura Scott’s ruling states.
The decision comes two weeks after the Utah Supreme Court on Sept. 25 agreed with a lower court ruling to also void Amendment D, which would have given the Legislature the power to repeal citizen-passed ballot initiatives.
In both cases, plaintiffs argued that the Utah Legislature violated Article XXIII of the Utah Constitution, which mandates that ballot language be published in newspapers statewide at least two months before appearing on ballots.
Scott on Wednesday ruled that the previous decision on the “newspaper publication issue” regarding Amendment D also applies in the case of Amendment A.
Her order came shortly after plaintiffs including the state’s largest teachers union (the Utah Education Association), as well as defendants including Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams and Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz agreed that “the failure to comply with the newspaper publication requirement” was a valid reason for Scott to grant a preliminary injunction voiding Amendment A.
The parties also agreed that a preliminary order regarding Amendment A would essentially constitute a permanent order, given the timing of the Nov. 5 election. Scott ultimately issued a permanent injunction to void the ballot proposal.
Read the full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.