Amendment A on Utah’s general election ballot is voided and any votes cast won’t count.
The decision issued Wednesday by 3rd District Judge Laura Scott on the proposed amendment, which would have lifted the restrictions in the Utah Constitution that limit the use of state income tax revenues to schools and some human services needs as well as triggered a law removing the state’s 1.75% share of sales tax on food purchases, was widely anticipated.
The legal challenge came from the Utah Education Association, which just launched an advertising blitz against Amendment A as part of the coalition behind Utahns for Student Success, a political issues committee that’s raised more than $400,000, much of it from the national teachers union.
“Voiding Amendment A is a significant victory for Utah voters and public education,” Utahns for Student Success said in a statement, calling it “a power grab by state politicians aimed at diverting public money from public schools to unaccountable religious private school vouchers. It was written to be deliberately misleading, hiding its true impact on public schools.”
In a joint statement, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said while they “remain disappointed that Utahns will not have the opportunity to decide on two important matters in November,” they “chose to file a joint brief allowing the district court to resolve the case. This action aimed to prevent unnecessary expenditure of tax dollars.”
The legislative leaders said, “Amendment A would have constitutionally guaranteed funding for public education and removed the state sales tax on food. While votes on this amendment will not be counted, we remain committed to continue supporting education and lowering taxes for all Utahns.”
The Utah Democratic Party also weighed in, saying in a statement it’s “time for the Republican Supermajority to stop playing political games with the future of our children and grandchildren.”
The Amendment A ruling cited the recent Utah Supreme Court decision upholding the voiding of another amendment on the ballot, in part because voters were not notified as constitutionally required by publication “in at least one newspaper in every county of the state, where a newspaper is published, for two months immediately preceding the next general election.”
Scott’s ruling stated that the legislative defendants “acknowledge that there is no basis to argue that the newspaper publication requirement” was met, and both plaintiffs and defendants “all acknowledge that the failure to comply with the newspaper publication requirement with respect to Amendment A provides a basis for the Court to issue a preliminary injunction.”
That means “Amendment A is void and shall be given no effect,” the ruling states, and (a)ny votes cast for or against Amendment A are void and do not count.” The amendment may appear on ballots, but the court noted that because it’s past the deadline for reprogramming voting machines to not tabulate votes, the results are not to be published or released to anyone.
An Oct. 15 hearing set to consider the teachers union challenge to Amendment A, added to an ongoing lawsuit against a school voucher program, was canceled. The teachers union challenge also alleged the ballot language for the amendment, written by Adams and Schultz, was misleading.
The Amendment D ruling upheld by the high court dealt with both the voter notification and ballot language issues.
The ruling also spells out that the remaining two amendments on the ballot are not affected, stating the “injunction affects only Constitutional Amendment A proposed for the November 2024 general election ballot and has no effect on any other constitutional amendment proposed for a general election ballot after 2024.”
Amendment B would increase the limit on the annual distributions from the State School Fund to public schools from 4% to 5% of the fund, and Amendment C would require county sheriffs to be elected by voters. The amendment that was previously voided, Amendment D, would have given state lawmakers the express power to immediately change or repeal voter-approved initiatives.