Salt Lake City, UT — On Saturday, the League of Women Voters of Utah (LWV Utah), Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) and a bipartisan group of Utah voters filed a second challenge to the legality of Constitutional Amendment D. 

The Utah Constitution requires that the full text of a proposed constitutional amendment be published in at least one newspaper in every county of the state for the two months prior to the election. The legislature failed to meet that deadline.

This challenge is the second that Utahns filed to protect the rights clearly established by the Utah Constitution. Another filed late last week challenged Amendment D’s deceptive ballot language, which was written by the very same people who are pushing the amendment forward. 

That problem has been compounded by the Legislature’s failure to comply with its constitutional obligation to provide voters the proposed amendment’s text in a timely manner to allow voters to determine for themselves how to vote. The Legislature plans to present a false description on the ballot while simultaneously withholding the text of the amendment from voters.   

“The League of Women Voters takes seriously our mission to empower voters and therefore provide them with timely and accurate information. That has proven impossible after the legislature failed to release the text of Amendment D as required, and put out ballot language which is both biased and incorrect. It is unfair to their constituents who need time to examine their ballots and make informed decisions. We believe that the Utah Constitution recognizes that voters are integral to our democracy and that neither they nor the Constitution should be taken lightly or ignored. Voters deserve better from their representatives,” said Katharine Biele, president of League of Women Voters of Utah.

“The Utah Constitution includes an amendment notification provision for a reason – so that the people have the opportunity to read and consider what will be voted on. While the misleading ballot language has been shared far and wide by legislative leadership, the actual text of the amendment has been obscured, in clear violation of the Utah constitution. This is the latest move in a series of rushed political maneuvers that undermine Utahns’ constitutional rights,” said Emma Petty Addams, co-executive director, Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

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, Utah politicians attempted to raise the threshold for the passage of ballot initiatives from a simple majority to 60%.

After the Utah Supreme Court reaffirmed the rights of the people to alter or reform their government, and rejected the Legislature’s disregard of the voters’ wishes, the legislature rushed into emergency session seeking to advance a constitutional amendment to invalidate the voters’ constitutional rights. As part of the rushed process, the legislative leadership then rushed misleading and inaccurate ballot language forward, while ignoring their constitutional duties to publish the full and accurate text in advance of the election. 

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.

Salt Lake City, UT — Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and a bipartisan group of Utah voters and organizations asked a district court to remove Constitutional Amendment D from Utahns’ ballots this November.  

Utah’s Constitution requires that language on the ballot fairly and accurately describe the constitutional amendment being considered by voters. The language written by Utah’s legislative leaders to describe the proposed constitutional amendment does the opposite and is not only misleading and deceptive, but also illegal and unconstitutional.  

“Utah politicians refuse to accept any check on their power. First, they overruled the will of the people by repealing Prop 4, and now they are trying to overrule the Utah Supreme Court. This eleventh hour push for an unnecessary constitutional amendment, along with the misleading language to deceive Utahns into voting for it, is yet another example of Utah politicians doing everything they can to take power away from the people and give it to themselves,” said Mark Gaber, senior director of redistricting at Campaign Legal Center. “The fight for fair maps should continue in court so Utahns can pick their politicians instead of the other way around.” 

“The League of Women Voters has long advocated for a fair and transparent process that produces the most representative maps. While the Utah Supreme Court affirmed that the process was flawed, the legislature continues to fight against the will of the people, and insults the voter with ballot language that is both biased and self-serving,” said Katharine Biele, President of the League of Women Voters of Utah.

“Once again the Legislature has prioritized their own wishes above both their constitutional duties and their obligation to serve the people of Utah. The people of Utah deserve better and we will continue to advocate for long standing constitutional rights and freedoms,” said Emma Petty Addams, Co-Executive Director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government. 

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, Utah politicians attempted to raise the threshold for the passage of ballot initiatives from a simple majority to 60%.  

After the Utah Supreme Court reaffirmed the rights of the people to alter or reform their government, and rejected the Legislature’s shameful disregard of the voters’ wishes, the Legislature is once again attempting to change the law to give themselves more power at the expense of the people.  The deceptive ballot language and power-grabbing proposed amendment are just another attempt by Utah politicians to take the power that the constitution grants to the people.  

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.  

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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. 

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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. — Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a nonpartisan group, filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), urging it to investigate Representative Byron Donalds of Florida for failing to disclose over 100 stock trades he made that totaled up to $1.6 million, which represents a violation of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. This egregious violation emphasizes the urgent need for Congress to pass the bipartisan Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act to further limit violations of this nature. 

Lawmakers must file Periodic Transaction Reports (PTRs) within 45 days of trading any stock that exceeds $1,000 or risk facing penalties. While Rep. Donalds and his spouse made 108 stock trades between 2022 and 2023 valued up to $1.6 million, he failed to file PTRs for any of these transactions. CLC has previously filed complaints against other Members of Congress for committing similar infractions. 

“While Rep. Byron Donalds’s violations of the STOCK Act are significant, his behavior is unfortunately not an anomaly in Congress,” says Kedric Payne, CLC’s vice president, general counsel and senior director of ethics. “There is a widespread, and bipartisan, trend of lawmakers failing to promptly disclose if they engage in stock trades, which fuels more ethics violations. We urge the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate the omissions by Rep. Donalds because the public has a right to know about potential conflicts of interest their elected officials may have. Furthermore, Congress should not delay in passing the ETHICS Act, which would ban members of Congress from trading stocks in individual companies.” 

While Members of Congress may have to pay a relatively small fine for violating the STOCK Act, a bipartisan group of Senators on the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security recently advanced the ETHICS Act, which bans federally elected officials from stock trading while serving in their official roles with greater financial penalties for violations relative to the STOCK Act. 

Voters have a right to know what potential conflicts of interest elected lawmakers may have given their ability to craft and implement legislation. The OCE must investigate unreported stock trades by lawmakers like Rep. Donalds, while the broader Congress should work to pass legislation aimed at making congressional stock trading a more publicly transparent and accountable process.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today numerous advocacy organizations sent a demand letter to Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins and Secretary of State Tre Hargett informing them that the voter list maintenance program they initiated by sending 14,375 letters to registered voters threatening criminal prosecution for illegal voting and demanding that they verify their U.S. citizenship is unconstitutional and violates federal law.

Campaign Legal Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and the national American Civil Liberties Union sent the letter, on behalf of Advocates for Immigrant Rights, the American Muslim Advisory Council of Tennessee, API Middle Tennessee, Civic TN, Conexión Américas, The Equity Alliance, the Nashville Chapter of the NAACP, Organize Tennessee, the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors and the League of Women Voters Tennessee.

Recipients of the coordinator of elections’ June 13 letter included naturalized citizens who have already affirmed their citizenship and eligibility to vote when they registered.

“There is no place in our democracy for state-sponsored voter intimidation, including by demanding that naturalized citizens ‘show their papers’ to prove they are sufficiently American after they have already affirmed their citizenship through the voter registration process,” said Jonathan Diaz, director of voting advocacy and partnerships at Campaign Legal Center. “The freedom to vote should be accessible to every American, regardless of where they were born. Tennessee’s use of unreliable data to target and harass new Americans into canceling their voter registration is textbook voter intimidation disguised as list maintenance and only aims to sow fear among voters.”

“Historically, in Tennessee and throughout the South, voters of color have been harassed, taxed and beaten for seeking to exercise their basic voting rights,” said Jeff Preptit, ACLU of Tennessee staff attorney. “This letter has had the distinct effect of intimidating and dissuading naturalized citizens from exercising their right to vote, perpetuating this shameful legacy of voter suppression. The coordinator of elections must cease implementation of this unconstitutional effort immediately and assure voters that they have the right to vote as normal, or we’ll have no choice but to challenge his actions in court.”

“Tennessee is trying to make it harder for voters to exercise their most fundamental right, using methods that courts across the country have already repeatedly rejected,” said Theresa J. Lee, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “Putting up these sorts of roadblocks based on voters’ race and national origin has no place in our democracy. Courts have held this before, and if the coordinator of elections doesn’t reverse course, we are confident the courts in Tennessee will do so again.”

The advocates’ letter asserts that the voter list maintenance program’s requirement that letter recipients submit copies of birth certificates, passports and naturalization documentation when other voters are not subject to these requirements imposes a discriminatory burden on voters based on their race and national origin, in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the National Voter Registration Act and the Voting Rights Act.

The June 13 letter intimidates voters by imposing a heavier burden on naturalized citizens, warning about criminal prosecution, and remaining silent on whether a voter’s registration would be purged, further violating the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act and other federal laws. This ambiguity left letter recipients guessing about the consequences of the letter and whether they would be criminally prosecuted for voting.

The state’s program also violates the National Voter Registration Act’s requirement that states complete any programs aimed at removing ineligible voters from the official voter lists at least 90 days before a primary or general election for federal offices. The June 13 letter was sent just 29 days before early voting begins.

The advocacy groups demand that Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins and Secretary of State Tre Hargett cease all actions that perpetuate voter intimidation and violate the U.S Constitution and federal law. Advocates are also seeking issuance of a public statement declaring that no person will be removed from Tennessee’s voter rolls in relation to the June 13 letters and the sending of new letters to the June 13 letter recipients confirming that their voter registration will not be purged and that they have the right to vote as normal. Finally, advocates seek the release of all records related to the development and implementation of the voter list maintenance program.

If these violations are not remedied forthwith, Campaign Legal Center, the ACLU of Tennessee and the ACLU will challenge the voter list maintenance program in court.

Federal courts have found similar voter maintenance programs in Florida, Texas and Arizona to be unlawful.

The demand letter can be found here. 

The Supreme Court just partially granted the Republican National Committee’s request for a stay in a voting rights lawsuit that will impact the freedom to vote for up to 40,000 Arizonans.  

Bruce V. Spiva, senior vice president at Campaign Legal Center (CLC), issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling:  

“We are disappointed that the Supreme Court is upending longstanding rules on the eve of an election that will clearly cause voter confusion. Free and fair elections rely on every citizen being able to cast a ballot and the fight is far from over. We look forward to making our case at the 9th circuit in September. In the meantime, CLC will continue working with our partners to fight for every Arizona citizen’s right to make their voice heard in the 2024 election.”    

Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at CLC, will argue on behalf of plaintiffs in this case in the 9th Circuit Court of appeals on September 10. She issued the following statement:  

“If the Court is going to weigh in on eleventh hour election law challenges, it needs to enforce the principle against last minute changes evenhandedly. This decision fails to do that.”  

Background: 

Free and fair elections rely on every eligible voter having the ability to access the ballot box. 

CLC filed the lawsuit (consolidated as Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes) on behalf of Native, Latino and student voters who would be negatively impacted by the law, which forces voters to produce documentary proof of citizenship and residency to register to vote.  

The case will now proceed to a hearing in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

State election officials already have existing systems in place to verify voter eligibility, and they work tirelessly to ensure voter rolls are accurate. As a result of these efforts, voters can trust that our elections are safe, secure and accurate.