SALT LAKE CITY (News4Utah) – After a failed attempt at getting their initiative on the November ballot, the leaders of the Count My Vote initiative are taking their case to the Utah Supreme Court.
The group filed a petition Friday to “protect the people’s constitutional right of initiative and the voices of nearly 132,000 Utah voters who signed the Direct Primary Election Act initiative petition.”
In its petition, initiative leaders four basic arguments:
- The rescission provision, as currently constituted, places an undue burden on the citizens’ right to initiate legislation.
- The Utah Elections act violates the Utah Constitution’s “uniform operation of laws” provision because it improperly favors opponents to any given petition.
- The current removal provision can only be constitutional if interpreted to follow the plain language of the statute, requiring each voter to submit their rescission statement personally by mail or by hand delivery to the County Clerk.
- If the removal provision is found unconstitutional (which we believe) and/or that provision is interpreted appropriately, then the majority of rescission statements were submitted improperly (which we know for certain), are null and void, and thus, Count My Vote does indeed qualify for the November ballot.
Count My Vote leaders believe they have a “logical and legally sound argument” for placing Count My Vote on November’s ballot.
