SALT LAKE CITY – The political furor over the Utah Supreme Court’s recent ruling on ballot initiatives is heating up.
On Aug. 16, Utah GOP chairman Robert Axson and more than 60 Republican officials and their supporters sent a letter to Gov. Spencer Cox urging him to do an end-run around the Supreme Court ruling by calling a special session of the Legislature to consider an amendment to the state’s Constitution.
The Utah Democratic Party has meanwhile responded to that letter by filing a motion to participate in the Proposition 4 litigation in support of the League of Women Voters of Utah (LWVU).
The GOP letter is an open invitation to the governor and the Legislature to disenfranchise Utahns, according to Tom DeSirant, the executive director of the UDP, arguing that all Utahns should have an equal say in how they’re governed.
At issue is the July ruling by the Supreme Court that reversed a 3rd District Court decision to dismiss part of a LWVU lawsuit that has been working its way through the state courts since 2022.
Utah voters passed a ballot initiative in 2018 to create an independent commission to redraw maps for Utah’s congressional districts, a process that takes place every ten years following the Census.
In 2021, however, the Republican majority in the Legislature opted to ignore the commission’s recommendations and drew its own districts.
The League had argued that the Utah Legislature violated Utahns’ constitution right to alter and reform the state government when lawmakers repealed and replaced Proposition 4, the citizen-driven ballot initiative to enact an independent commission to draw new boundaries in the 2021 redistricting process.
A 3rd District Court had dismissed that claim, only to be overturned by the Utah Supreme Court, sending the case back to the lower court.
Gov. Cox reacted cautiously to that July ruling.
“While I disagree with some of the (Supreme) Court’s analysis and determinations,” Cox said in a statement issued on July 11, “I respect the role of the Court in our system of government.”
But many within the ranks of Utah Republicans have other ideas.
“Our founders wisely designed a representative republic to prevent the chaos of direct democracy,” Axson said in the Aug. 16 GOP letter demanding a special session and a constitutional amendment.
“This ruling disrupts that balance, leaving Utah vulnerable to the whims of special interests and fleeting majorities. If we do not act to mitigate the consequences of this decision, Utah’s strong community and quality of life will be severely jeopardized, impacting our future and generations to come.”
But DeSirant countered that ultimate power should lie with the voters, not the Legislature.
“Republican attempts to defy the will of the voters by repealing Proposition 4 and imposing lopsided congressional districts on Utahns is nothing more than a power grab,” he said, “designed to squash opposition and cut themselves off from the democratic process.”
The Utah Legislature has the power to call itself into special session, which is presumably why the GOP letter was also sent to Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz.
In addition to Axson, the Aug. 16 letter was also signed by GOP state party officials, numerous mayors and county officials as well as representatives of Utah Citizens for the Constitution, Path Forward Utah, Pro-Life Utah, the Worldwide Organization for Women and the Eagle Forum.