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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah election leaders filed a motion Friday asking a federal judge to deny an injunction request from a group suing the state over its initiative process, arguing the measure would "harm the public interest by shifting election deadlines."
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, whose office oversees state elections, submitted a motion in Utah's U.S. District Court opposing a preliminary injunction in the case. Utah elections director Ryan Cowley also submitted a declaration in support of the state's request.
Henderson's lawyers said a shift in deadlines would impact the state election office, county clerks, candidates and voters. They add there are "four prongs" needed for a preliminary injunction and they don't believe the group has met any of those standards.
"The only regulations that merit increased scrutiny from federal courts are ones that severely burden an individual's speech and association rights under the First Amendment. The regulations of which plaintiffs complain do no such thing," the motion states. "They also do not pose undue burdens on plaintiffs' state right to initiative legislation. The court should deny the (injunction)."
Utah resident Tracie Halvorsen — a member of a group seeking to get an initiative that would overturn Utah's new flag law before and put future flag decisions on a ballot — and the Are You Listening Yet PAC filed the lawsuit against Henderson earlier this month. They claim rules and guidelines governing their petition drive to force the flag question to the ballot box were unconstitutional.
They also filed an injunction that would move the signature deadline to July 8.
The group ended up collecting close to 100,000 signatures, thus failing to land on this year's ballot. More than 17,000 either weren't verified or were found to be invalid by the Feb. 15 deadline. It needed 134,298 signatures from registered Utah voters, including a certain percentage of signatures from 26 of the state's 29 senate districts to be included on this year's ballot.
The initiative was filed in May 2023, but Halvorsen said the state took steps that delayed the group's ability to collect signatures, while inconsistencies in the process led to many signatures being tossed.
But Henderson's lawyers contend the state sets its election deadlines to help create "a manageable workload for county clerks," who are tasked with receiving and verifying initiative signatures that are sent to the state, along with other local-level election tasks and non-election responsibilities. Failing to set deadlines could result in mistakes "on a rushed schedule," such as invalid signatures being approved and valid signatures being rejected.
Cowley explained that the Feb. 15 deadline was set to help clerks finish any initiative verification before they focus on candidate petition signatures for the various local, state and federal races on the ballot.
State lawyers argue nothing in the state law is "unconstitutional." They also questioned the timing of the lawsuit and injunction request, saying it was filed "on the eve" of the initiative deadline when it was clear it wouldn't get enough signatures.
"(The) plaintiffs' choice to sit on their claims for nine months and not prosecute them implicates both the irreparable harm and likelihood of success prongs of the preliminary injunction standard," Henderson's motion states.
Are You Listening Yet representatives clarified last week that the lawsuit's timing was tied to the time it took for it to collect enough funds to hire a lawyer and keep the lawyer on retainer.
While lawmakers have said they are aware that getting initiatives on a ballot is difficult, Cowley pointed to groups that have successfully collected enough signatures as proof that it's not impossible. These include four measures that gathered enough signatures within 2½ to 6½ months in 2018 — even if it was before Utah created a 30-day "rolling submission window" to make it easier for clerks to manage signature verification.
He said the group also "raised no objections" when they stuck with the signature collection format on June 12, 2023.
U.S. District Court Jill Parrish had set Friday to be the state's deadline to respond to the injunction request. It remains unclear when Parrish could issue a ruling that may extend the deadline for the initiative a few more months.
Halvorsen said last week the group will continue to gather signatures while the court process plays out just in case the deadline is extended.
Utah's new flag law — passed last year — is slated to go into effect on March 9.
