20A-7-308. Short title and summary of referendum — Duties of lieutenant governor and Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.
(1)
Whenever a referendum petition is declared sufficient for submission to a vote of the people, the lieutenant governor shall deliver a copy of the referendum petition and the law to which the referendum relates to the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.
Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-7-308
Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
Ballot: means the storage medium, including a paper, mechanical, or electronic storage medium, that records an individual voter's vote. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Ballot proposition: means a question, issue, or proposal that is submitted to voters on the ballot for their approval or rejection including:
(a)
an opinion question specifically authorized by the Legislature;
(b)
a constitutional amendment;
(c)
an initiative;
(d)
a referendum;
(e)
a bond proposition;
(f)
a judicial retention question;
(g)
an incorporation of a city or town; or
(h)
any other ballot question specifically authorized by the Legislature. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Election: means a regular general election, a municipal general election, a statewide special election, a local special election, a regular primary election, a municipal primary election, and a special district election. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Initiative: means a new law proposed for adoption by the public as provided in this chapter. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Official ballot: means the ballots distributed by the election officer for voters to record their votes. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Referendum: means a process by which a law passed by the Legislature or by a local legislative body is submitted or referred to the voters for their approval or rejection. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Referendum petition: means :
(a)
as it relates to a statewide referendum, using the manual referendum process, the form described in Subsection 20A-7-303(2)(a), petitioning for submission of a law passed by the Legislature to legal voters for their approval or rejection;
(b)
as it relates to a statewide referendum, using the electronic referendum process, the form described in Subsection 20A-7-313(2), petitioning for submission of a law passed by the Legislature to legal voters for their approval or rejection;
(c)
as it relates to a local referendum, using the manual referendum process, the form described in Subsection 20A-7-603(2)(a), petitioning for submission of a local law to legal voters for their approval or rejection; or
(d)
as it relates to a local referendum, using the electronic referendum process, the form described in Subsection 20A-7-614(2), petitioning for submission of a local law to legal voters for their approval or rejection. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Sponsors: means the legal voters who support the initiative or referendum and who sign the initiative application or referendum application. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
The Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel shall:
(i)
entitle each statewide referendum that qualifies for the ballot “Proposition Number __” and assign a number to the referendum in accordance with Section 20A-6-107;
(ii)
prepare for each referendum:
(A)
an impartial short title, not exceeding 25 words, that generally describes the law to which the referendum relates; and
(B)
an impartial summary of the contents of the law to which the referendum relates, not exceeding 125 words; and
(iii)
submit the short title and summary to the lieutenant governor within 15 days after the day on which the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel receives the petition under Subsection (1).
(b)
The short title and summary may be distinct from the title of the law that is the subject of the referendum.
(c)
Subject to Subjection (4), for each statewide referendum, the official ballot shall show, in the following order:
(i)
the number of the referendum, determined in accordance with Section 20A-6-107;
(ii)
the short title; and
(iii)
except as provided in Subsection (2)(d):
(A)
the summary;
(B)
a copy of the law; and
(C)
a link to a location on the lieutenant governor’s website where a voter may review additional information relating to each referendum, including the information described in Subsection 20A-7-302(2) and the arguments relating to the referendum that are included in the voter information pamphlet.
(d)
Unless the information described in Subsection (2)(c)(iii) is shown on the official ballot, the election officer shall include with the ballot a separate ballot proposition insert that includes the short title and summary for each referendum on the ballot and a link to a location on the lieutenant governor’s website where a voter may review the additional information described in Subsection (2)(c)(iii)(C).
(e)
Unless the information described in Subsection 20A-7-209(2)(d)(iii) for all initiatives on the ballot, and the information described in Subsection (2)(c)(iii) for all referenda on the ballot, is printed on the ballot, the ballot shall include the following statement at the beginning of the portion of the ballot that includes ballot measures, “The ballot proposition sheet included with this ballot contains an impartial summary of each initiative and referendum on this ballot, unless the summary is printed directly on the ballot.”
(3)
Immediately after the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel submits the short title and summary to the lieutenant governor, the lieutenant governor shall mail or email a copy of the short title and summary to any of the sponsors of the referendum petition.
(4)
(a)
(i)
At least three of the sponsors of the referendum petition may, within 15 days after the day on which the lieutenant governor mails the short title and summary, challenge the wording of the short title and summary prepared by the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel to the appropriate court.
(ii)
After receipt of the appeal, the court shall direct the lieutenant governor to send notice of the appeal to:
(A)
any person or group that has filed an argument for or against the law to which the referendum relates; and
(B)
any political issues committee established under Section 20A-11-801 that has filed written or electronic notice with the lieutenant governor that identifies the name, mailing or email address, and telephone number of the person designated to receive notice about any issues relating to the referendum.
(b)
(i)
There is a presumption that the short title prepared by the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel is an impartial description of the contents of the referendum.
(ii)
The court may not revise the wording of the short title unless the plaintiffs rebut the presumption by clearly and convincingly establishing that the short title is false or biased.
(iii)
There is a presumption that the summary prepared by the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel is an impartial summary of the contents of the law to which the referendum relates.
(iv)
The court may not revise the wording of the summary unless the plaintiffs rebut the presumption by clearly and convincingly establishing that the summary is false or biased.
(c)
The court shall:
(i)
examine the short title and summary;
(ii)
hear arguments; and
(iii)
enter an order consistent with the requirements of this section.
(d)
The lieutenant governor shall, in accordance with the court’s order, certify the short title and summary to the county clerks for inclusion in the ballot or ballot proposition insert, as required by this section.
Amended by Chapter 45, 2023 General Session Amended by Chapter 107, 2023 General Session
