20A-7-608. Short title and summary of referendum — Duties of local clerk and local attorney.
(1)
Upon receipt of a referendum petition, the local clerk shall deliver a copy of the referendum petition and the law to which the referendum relates to the local attorney.
Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-7-608
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
Election officer: means :
(a)
the lieutenant governor, for all statewide ballots and elections;
Initiative: means a new law proposed for adoption by the public as provided in this chapter. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Local attorney: means the county attorney, city attorney, or town attorney in whose jurisdiction a local initiative or referendum petition is circulated. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Local clerk: means the county clerk, city recorder, or town clerk in whose jurisdiction a local initiative or referendum petition is circulated. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Local law: includes :
(i)
an ordinance;
(ii)
a resolution;
(iii)
a land use law;
(iv)
a land use regulation, as defined in Section 10-9a-103; or
(v)
other legislative action of a local legislative body. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Local legislative body: means the legislative body of a county, city, town, or metro township. 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
entitle each county or municipal referendum that qualifies for the ballot “Proposition Number __” and give the referendum a number assigned in accordance with Section 20A-6-107;
(b)
prepare for the referendum:
(i)
an impartial short title, not exceeding 25 words, that generally describes the subject of the law to which the referendum relates; and
(ii)
an impartial summary of the contents of the law to which the referendum relates, not exceeding 125 words;
(c)
file the proposed short title, summary, and the numbered referendum title with the local clerk within 20 days after the day on which an eligible voter submits the referendum petition to the local clerk; and
(d)
promptly provide notice of the filing of the proposed short title and summary to:
(i)
the sponsors of the petition; and
(ii)
the local legislative body for the jurisdiction where the referendum petition was circulated.
(3)
(a)
The short title and summary may be distinct from the title of the law that is the subject of the referendum petition.
(b)
In preparing a short title, the local attorney shall, to the best of the local attorney’s ability, give a true and impartial description of the subject of the referendum.
(c)
In preparing a summary, the local attorney shall, to the best of the local attorney’s ability, give a true and impartial summary of the contents of the referendum.
(d)
The short title and summary may not intentionally be an argument, or likely to create prejudice, for or against the referendum.
(4)
(a)
Within five calendar days after the day on which the local attorney files a proposed short title and summary under Subsection (2)(c), the local legislative body for the jurisdiction where the referendum petition was circulated and the sponsors of the referendum petition may file written comments in response to the proposed short title and summary with the local clerk.
(b)
Within five calendar days after the last date to submit written comments under Subsection (4)(a), the local attorney shall:
(i)
review any written comments filed in accordance with Subsection (4)(a);
(ii)
prepare a final short title and summary that meets the requirements of Subsection (3); and
(iii)
return the referendum petition and file the short title and summary with the local clerk.
(c)
Subject to Subsection (6), for each county or municipal referendum, the following shall be printed on the official ballot:
(i)
the short title; and
(ii)
except as provided in Subsection (4)(d):
(A)
the summary;
(B)
a copy of the ordinance, resolution, or written description of the local law; and
(C)
a link to a location on the election officer’s website where a voter may review additional information relating to each referendum, including the information described in Subsection 20A-7-602(2) and the arguments relating to the referendum that are included in the local voter information pamphlet.
(d)
Unless the information described in Subsection (4)(c)(ii) is printed 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 election officer’s website where a voter may review the additional information described in Subsection (4)(c)(ii)(C).
(e)
Unless the information described in Subsection 20A-7-508(4)(c)(ii) for all initiatives on the ballot, and the information described in Subsection (4)(c)(ii) 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.”
(5)
Immediately after the local attorney files a copy of the short title and summary with the local clerk, the local clerk shall serve a copy of the short title and summary by mail upon the sponsors of the referendum petition and the local legislative body for the jurisdiction where the referendum petition was circulated.
(6)
(a)
If the short title or summary provided by the local attorney is unsatisfactory or does not comply with the requirements of this section, the decision of the local attorney may be appealed to the appropriate court by:
(i)
at least three sponsors of the referendum petition; or
(ii)
a majority of the local legislative body for the jurisdiction where the referendum petition was circulated.
(b)
The court:
(i)
shall examine the short title and summary and consider the arguments; and
(ii)
enter an order consistent with the requirements of this section.
(c)
The local clerk shall include the short title and summary 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
