Summertime and the livin’ is not easy.
Summertime and the livin’ is … not easy. As a League, we have much to do in the face of increased attacks on our democracy. And we need your help now.
Despite our many and continued victories in the courts, the Utah Legislature continues to fight against the will of its constituents. They didn’t have to. We have always said that we believe in representative government and yet it appears their definition of that is total power.
Of course, the best way to strengthen our democracy is by voting – and making sure that all citizens have access to the ballot. On June 2, we launched VOTE411, our online, nonpartisan election resource designed to inform and make participation in elections easier. This one-stop election hub provides personalized ballot information, voter registration details, how/when to cast your ballot, and more. Use it and spread the word.
But it’s not complete without the candidates who have a unique opportunity to connect directly with voters on key issues. With the Primary Election looming, more than half of our targeted candidates have submitted responses. We need your help to encourage the rest to participate, so I hope you saw the email that was sent a few days ago. It will tell you who to contact to complete our voters guide. If you have questions, please contact Helen Moser, voterservice@lwvutah.org.
Vote-by-Mail
Utah should be a model for the nation on safe and secure mailed ballots. We have used Vote-by-mail almost exclusively since 2014 and there has been no evidence of widespread fraud, although there has been plenty of misinformation. Unfortunately, that misinformation reached the highest level resulting in President Donald Trump’s Executive Order directing the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots only to people confirmed as U.S. citizens.
Our Utah League has joined in a lawsuit to stop the administration from gaining Utah’s voter rolls. The LWVUS has stepped in with a federal case against this executive order, saying it in unconstitutional in that voting processes are the domain of the states. Needless to say, it would create massive confusion and chaos in attempts to comply before the 2026 midterms.
Learn about the latest changes in the law here.
Court Shopping
In its latest effort to thwart the rule of law, the Legislature has created conflicting laws to try get the rulings they want. They have been fighting the people since 2018 when Proposition 4 was passed and may try to pass a Constitutional Amendment to give them total control over initiatives.
Because they have not liked the many rulings from the Utah Supreme Court or the District Court, they are now determined to appeal those decisions to a court of their creation. It’s not just the Redistricting Case they are unhappy with. They also want to refer cases about the Abortion Ban, Great Salt Lake, and Climate Change.
LWV Utah just filed a new brief challenging them again. We maintain that the Utah Constitution creates three co-equal branches of government, and does not permit the legislature to reshape the structure of the judiciary. The Legislature's creation of a three-judge district court panel to hear certain cases violates the separation of powers, and the definition of "district court" that has existed in Utah since the founding of the state. And the Legislature's contingent "constitutional court" that would spring to life if the three-judge panel is ruled unconstitutional, is also unconstitutional. The Constitution does not permit the Legislature to change the structure of Utah's courts simply because they don't like the decisions courts have issued.
New from National
Statements/Messaging
Reminder: Unite & Rise for Voting Rights – August 8
The August 8th Day of Action is quickly approaching! Please participate if you can.
Administration Updates
The USPS has issued a rule on mail-in voting in connection to the Administration’s EO on mail-in voting. LWVUS is working with legal counsel to provide guidance on how members can comment. That guidance will be shared early next week. If you have questions about this, please reach out to advocacy@lwv.org.
The President will celebrate his birthday on June 14. Over the weekend, he will host a UCF fight on the White House lawn.
Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche testified at a House Appropriations subcommittee oversight hearing that the $1.7 billion "anti-weaponization" fund under the DOJ would not be moving forward.
This fund was proposed by the White House to compensate “victims of lawfare and weaponization” and people targeted for “political, personal or ideological reasons” - likely Trump allies and those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Bipartisan disapproval of this fund had slowed negotiations on the reconciliation bill in Congress to fund ICE and CBP, as members of Congress sought to codify guardrails for this fund in the bill.
Congress Updates
The House passed the reconciliation bill funding ICE and CBP for the next three years with $70 billion in funding for immigration enforcement. Read our statement here.NEW Youth Civic Engagement Groups.io: League members can now join a listserv to share resources and discuss youth civic engagement. Find all groups.io listservs on LMS.
Partnership for Registration at Graduations: The Council of the Great City Schools has partnered with LWV for a small pilot program to connect select high schools with their local Leagues to bring voter registration tables to graduations in June. For this pilot, a small number of school districts are reaching out to local Leagues in their area using our local League lookup tool. There is no proactive action for Leagues for this partnership other than to make sure local League website listings are up to date in the League portal. Be aware that a school district may be reaching out to a local League in your state to partner on voter registration at their high school graduation. We hope to expand the partnership next year.