Salt Lake City, UT – On Wednesday, Campaign Legal Center represented League of Women Voters of Utah (LWV Utah), Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) and a bipartisan group of voters in a hearing over the legality of Constitutional Amendment D appearing on Utahns’ November ballot. 

Today the court ruled that Utahns have a constitutional right to a truthful ballot and the Legislature has a constitutional obligation to provide proper notice of a constitutional amendment to the people. Because of the Legislature’s rushed process and misleading ballot language, Amendment D’s placement on the ballot was unconstitutional. In response to the Legislature’s failures, and to protect Utahns’ constitutional rights, the court ordered that although Amendment D may appear on the ballot, the amendment will be void and will not become law. 

Following the decision, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), the League of Women Voters of Utah (LWV Utah), and Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) issued the following statements: 

“This victory is a win for Utah’s citizens. Proposed Amendment D was yet another unconstitutional move by the legislature designed to overrule the will of the voters and consolidate power,” said Mark Gaber, senior director of redistricting at Campaign Legal Center. “This decision will help preserve the balance of power in Utah and reaffirms the primacy of the constitution in all matters of governance. The court correctly ruled that a proposed amendment that violates the constitution in how it is presented to voters cannot become law. This outcome is a direct result of the Legislature’s rush to take power for itself while ignoring the constitution and the voters.”

“Today, the court has ruled the legislature’s bait-and-switch has failed,” said Katharine Biele, League of Women Voters of Utah president. “Make no mistake, this rush to amend the constitution was unnecessary, and we hope lawmakers reconsider their tactics. Citizens voted them into office in good faith, a faith that they would respect their constituents and work transparently. We believe in representative government and the principles that make our democracy work. The court agrees.”

“It has been inspiring to see the outpouring of interest and support from a cross-partisan group of Utahns over the past few weeks as we worked together to advocate for fidelity to the constitution,” said Emma Petty Addams, Co-Executive Director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government. “This ruling represents a positive and empowering outcome for the people of Utah.”

Background: 

In 2018, Utahns exercised their right to reform their government by passing a bipartisan initiative, Prop 4, also known as “Better Boundaries.” This effort created the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) and banned partisan gerrymandering.   

In response, in 2020 the Utah Legislature repealed Prop 4 and replaced it with SB 200, which gutted the key redistricting reforms in Prop 4, and enacted a congressional map that is an extreme partisan gerrymander, in direct contradiction to the will of the voters. Additionally, in 2023 and 2024, Utah politicians attempted to raise the threshold for the passage of ballot initiatives from a simple majority to 60%.   

In July 2024, the Utah Supreme Court reaffirmed that Utahns’ right to alter or reform the government through a ballot initiative is a fundamental constitutional right that the Legislature cannot ignore. Proposed Amendment D was an effort to overturn this ruling from the Utah Supreme Court.

One month later, the Legislature convened an “emergency” session in August to propose a constitutional amendment designed to give themselves the power Utah’s constitution reserves for the people. The Legislature changed ballot deadlines in Utah law and drafted a rushed constitutional amendment with severely limited citizen input. This proposed constitutional amendment would have effectively allowed the Legislature to amend or repeal citizen-passed ballot initiatives with virtually no limitation.

Following an additional change in state law that allowed partisan legislative leaders to draft the language describing the amendment on the ballot, the Legislature presented misleading ballot language that falsely described the effects of Amendment D. The Legislature also failed to publish the full text of the amendment in newspapers in each county in the state as required by the Constitution. CLC is representing the League of Women Voters of Utah (LWV Utah), Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG), and a bipartisan group of individual voters in the ongoing lawsuit.

About Campaign Legal Center – The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials. Learn more about CLC.  

Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter, tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded, and join our livestreamed events.  
 
About League of Women Voters of Utah – LWVUT is a nonpartisan nonprofit membership organization located in Salt Lake City, Utah that is dedicated to empowering voters and defending democracy.  LWVUT encourages active participation in government and works to increase its members and voters’ understanding of major public policy issues. For more information, please visit https://www.lwvutah.org. 
 
About Mormon Women for Ethical Government – MWEG is a nonpartisan nonprofit membership organization based in Riverton, Utah. MWEG is guided by its four core attributes: to be faithful, nonpartisan, peaceful, and proactive. MWEG is dedicated to inspiring women of faith and of all political affiliations to be ambassadors of peace who transcend partisanship and advocate for ethical government. MWEG is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.mormonwomenforethicalgovernment.org. 

Washington D.C. — This week, the U.S. House of Representatives held two hearings ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election in the House Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on House Administration designed to create false election panic. There are already strict laws in place to make sure only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections, yet partisan actors continue to push falsehoods that undermine the freedom to vote for U.S. citizens.  

CLC founder and president, Trevor Potter, issued the following statement: 

“There are already strict laws in place that ensure only U.S. citizens vote in our elections and voters in every state are already required to verify their citizenship under penalty of perjury when they register. American elections have proven to be secure, time and time again, because of the policies we already use to verify voters. Our system of checks and balances leaves no room for doubt that the official vote count is accurate.  

“Ultimately, bills like the SAVE Act and the continued spread of falsehoods weaken our democracy. They threaten the freedom to vote for qualified U.S. citizens and undermine the hard work done by election officials across the country to make sure only U.S. citizens can vote. We will remain watchful over partisan lawmakers who are scapegoating naturalized citizens now so they can attempt to overturn the election in the future.” 

Campaign Legal Center is working to advance bills in Congress to make our democracy more fair, free and secure. 

About Campaign Legal Center — The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials. Learn more about CLC.

Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter, tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded, and join our livestreamed events. 

Washington, DC — The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released new guidance in accordance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) that addresses limits on how and when voters may be removed from the rolls, affirms that the 90-day window applies to mass voter challenges, and clarifies that third-party information is not sufficient for removal. In response, Campaign Legal Center, Advancement Project, All Voting is Local, the Brennan Center for Justice, Dēmos, League of Women Voters of the United States, Legal Defense Fund, and Protect Democracy issued the following statement:

“We applaud the Department of Justice’s actions to ensure election officials across the nation are knowledgeable and armed with accurate information about the limits on how and when voters can be removed from the rolls. For the past several months, we have witnessed an exponential increase in baseless mass voter challenges attacking the eligibility of voters across several states. This guidance will serve as a foundational resource to not only prevent the disenfranchisement of voters but also deter ‘election vigilantes’ from continuing to overwhelm local election offices by challenging the eligibility of voters using faulty database tools. This is a win for voters as we head into the general election in November.”

Background: 

In its press release, the Department underscores what is required under the NVRA when removing voters from the rolls and emphasizes how states must adhere to federal voter protections and antidiscrimination laws while keeping their voter rolls accurate and up-to-date.

Amid a surge of challenges and attacks on voter eligibility, voting rights advocacy groups encouraged the DOJ to issue guidance to remind state and local jurisdictions of federal protections against unlawful voter removals and ensure every eligible voter can exercise their right to vote free of discrimination and intimidation. 

Washington, DC — Yesterday, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for dismissing CLC’s February 2024 complaint against the super PAC “Last Best Place PAC” for allegedly violating federal transparency requirements. CLC’s FEC complaint alleged that the super PAC failed to properly disclose its spending in connection with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign the group launched last fall attacking Tim Sheehy, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Montana. After CLC’s initial FEC complaint was filed, Sheehy secured the Republican nomination in this closely watched race. 

“Voters have a right to know where campaign money comes from and how it is spent, and this dismissal is yet another example of the FEC failing to vindicate that right and uphold the core transparency purposes of federal campaign finance law,” said Megan McAllen, director of campaign finance litigation at CLC. “Poor enforcement of the law makes our campaign finance system vulnerable to more secret spending. Despite FEC inaction, we will still be pushing for super PACs like Last Best Place PAC to be fully transparent with voters about their spending aimed at swaying voters in federal elections.” 

As CLC’s complaint explained, Last Best Place PAC began running ads last September that expressly advocated Sheehy’s defeat in Montana’s June 2024 primary election and therefore should have been reported by the group as independent expenditures, both in special pre-election “48-hour” reports and in its regularly scheduled committee filings. But although Last Best Place PAC did not file any 48-hour reports in connection with these ads or report any independent expenditures in its 2023 year-end disclosure report, the FEC nevertheless dismissed CLC’s complaint against the super PAC — which has ties to the dark money groups aligned with the leadership of the national Democratic Party. 

The four FEC commissioners who voted to dismiss the complaint relied on an unsupported and irrational legal rationale that threatens to open an immense loophole in federal transparency requirements for independent expenditures. 

In dismissing CLC’s complaint, the FEC disregarded the recommendations of its own nonpartisan staff lawyers in the agency’s Office of the General Counsel, which agreed with CLC’s concerns. Partisan gridlock has historically been a primary driver of FEC inaction, but now the agency has recently been taking steps to weaken regulation of political spending. 

When super PACs fail to properly disclose details about their spending, voters are deprived of critical information essential to casting an informed vote. In the absence of FEC action, CLC is stepping up to ensure that federal campaign finance law is enforced, and our elections exist within a fair, transparent and accountable political process.