SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah voters said ‘yes’ to both constitutional amendments on the Nov. 5 ballot, according to preliminary results projected by the Associated Press.
Official results from the election’s canvassing will not be available until Monday, Nov. 25.
Amendment B
Amendment B, which was passed, proposed a change to Article X, Section 5 of the Utah Constitution: Changing the limit of distributions to Utah schools from 4% to 5%.
Amendment B was supported by the Utah State Board of Education ahead of the election, and taxpayers were told the increase in funding for schools would not cost extra money for taxpayers.
Amendment B will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
Amendment C
Amendment C, which was passed, was proposed during the 2023 General Session and proposed Article XI of the Utah Constitution be amended to say the office of county sheriff is elected by voters.
Prior to Amendment C being voted on by Utahns, the role of county sheriff was already an elected office in Utah — Amendment C aimed to “establish, in the constitution, the office and term of a county sheriff.”
Amendment C will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
Background on Amendments A and D
While four amendments appeared on the 2024 ballots in the Beehive State, two were declared void after court rulings ahead of the election.
Amendment D was first approved in a special legislative session on Aug. 21. The amendment summary (as presented to voters) said it would “strengthen and clarify” the citizen initiative process. However, opponents of the proposed amendment said it would strip voters of their constitutional rights regarding citizen initiatives.
On Sept. 12, a Utah judge said the language of the proposed amendment presented to voters was “counterfactual,” and the court granted an injunction on the amendment, meaning votes on Amendment D would not be counted. On Sept. 25, the Utah Supreme Court upheld the decision to maintain the voided status of Amendment D.
However, because the estimated costs of reprinting ballots would have been at least $3 million, the Lt. Governor’s Office asked the court to leave Amendment D on the ballot.
Amendment A was voided on Oct. 9, with the judge citing the Utah Supreme Court’s reasoning for voiding Amendment D. The judge said certain prerequisites were not met for the amendment to be on the ballot, as the language of the amendment was not published in Utah newspapers ahead of time.
Amendment A proposed using funds that are typically reserved for public education for other purposes. The amendment also said it would eliminate the state sales tax on food.
Before the amendment was voided, Renee Pinkney, president of the Utah Education Association, said the language for Amendment A “does not include all of the legislative actions that would take place,” and called the amendment’s language “confusing.”
While both Amendment A and Amendment D remained on the ballot, votes against either amendment were not counted.