Utah Oath of Office, Amendment A (2016)
| Utah Amendment A | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2016 | |
| Topic Constitutional language | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
| 2016 measures |
|---|
 |
| November 8 |
| Amendment A |
| Amendment B |
Amendment C  |
| Polls |
| Voter guides |
| Campaign finance |
| Signature costs |
The Utah Oath of Office Amendment, also known as Amendment A, was on the November 8, 2016, ballot in Utah as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment. It was approved.
| A "yes" vote supported changing the oath of office for state officials in Utah to include the word "Utah" (rather than "this state") when referring to the Utah Constitution. |
| A "no" vote opposed changing the oath of office to include the word "Utah," thereby keeping the phrase "the Constitution of this State" for the segment in which a state official pledges to support the Utah Constitution. |
Election results
| Amendment A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Votes cast in elections: 1152369 | ||||
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 645,523 | 65.3% | ||
| No | 343,235 | 34.7% | ||
- Election results from Utah Lieutenant Governor
Overview
Amendment design
Amendment A changed the oath of office that each elected and appointed state official must make before entering into his or her respective office. It was proposed in the Utah State Legislature as House Joint Resolution 8.[1] The amendment was designed to change the oath of office to make specific reference to "the state of Utah" instead of using the phrase "this state."[2]
Current Utah oath of office and bill amendments
The Utah Oath of Office did not include the word “Utah” prior to the passage of Amendment A, instead saying “this State.” Rep. John Knotwell (R) proposed an amendment to HJR 8 that switched the order of references to the state and federal constitutions so that the Utah Constitution came first and the United States Constitution came second. The amendment was not incorporated into the final version that citizens voted on in November.
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question was as follows:[3]
| “ |
Shall the Utah Constitution be amended to make a technical wording change in the oath of office that elected and appointed officers are required to take? |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article IV, Utah Constitution
Amendment A was designed to amend Section 10 of Article IV of the Utah Constitution. The following struck-through text would have been deleted and underlined text would have been added by the proposed measure's approval:[1]
| All officers made elective or appointive by this Constitution or by the laws made in pursuance thereof, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of |
Full text
The full text of HJR 8 was available here.
Background
Utah Oath of Office
The prior Utah Oath of Office was contained in Article IV, Section 10 of the state constitution and read as follows:
| “ |
All officers made elective or appointive by this Constitution or by the laws made in pursuance thereof, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: 'I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State, and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity.[4] |
” |
Bill amendments
In February 2015, Rep. John Knotwell proposed an amendment to HJR 8 during a meeting of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. Under the proposed amendment, the constitutional changes read as follows:[5]
| All officers made elective or appointive by this Constitution or by the laws made in 28 pursuance thereof, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take and 29 subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, 30 obey, and defend the Constitution of the State of Utah and the Constitution of the United States |
The change in the ordering of the United States Constitution and the Utah Constitution contained in the proposal resulted in debate, as several representatives present at the meeting believed that officials should first swear allegiance to the United States of America and then to the state of Utah. Rep. Kraig Powell, the sponsor of the HJR 8, responded to the debate by discussing the original reasoning behind the legislation: “Please remember that the point of the bill was that the word ‘Utah’ is not currently in the oath of office.”[2] The amendment passed out of the committee meeting on an 8-3 vote, but it did not end up becoming part of the enrolled, final version of the legislation that citizens will vote on in November.[1]
Partisan control
- See also State government trifectas, Gubernatorial and legislative party control of state government, and Utah House of Representatives
The Utah State Legislature has been under a Republican trifecta, having a Republican governor and Republican majorities in the Utah Senate and House since 1992. As of August 2016, about 75 percent of Utah state senators were Republicans, and 84 percent of Utah state representatives were Republicans.
States with trifectas typically have increased odds of a particular party being able to submit legislatively referred constitutional amendments to the ballot. Republicans both sponsored and voted “nay” on HJR 8, and the bill passed through the legislature in about three months.
Support
The following legislators sponsored HJR 8:[6]
- Rep. Kraig Powell (R-54)
- Rep. Aaron Osmond (R-10)
Other officials
- Rep. John Knotwell (R-52)[2]
Arguments in favor
- Rep. Kraig Powell, who sponsored the first version of HJR 8 in which "this state" was clarified in the oath of office by replacing it with "the state of Utah," said the following after it was amended:[2]
| “ |
Please remember that the point of the bill was that the word ‘Utah’ is not currently in the oath of office. That was my intention and as long as that problem is solved, I can support the will of the body.[4] |
” |
- Rep. John Knotwell, who amended HJR 8 so that the Utah Constitution was mentioned before the U.S. Constitution in the oath of office, said the following:[2]
| “ |
We are elected to a state office and it makes sense to affirm to the constitution of the state first and the federal government second.[4] |
” |
Opposition
The following legislators in the Utah House of Representatives voted against HJR 8:[7]
- Rep. Jacob Anderegg (R-6)
- Rep. Timothy Hawkes (R-18)
- Rep. Daniel McCay (R-41)
- Rep. Mike Schultz (R-12)
- Rep. Norm Thurston (R-64)
Below are the legislators in the Utah State Senate who voted against the bill:[8]
- Sen. Lyle Hillyard (R-25)
Arguments against
- Rep. Brian King said the following when the bill passed out of committee:[2]
| “ |
First and foremost we pledge allegiance to the United States of America. We are all sort of laughing at this, and I don’t think it matters at all what the order is, but I feel more comfortable [pledging] first and foremost to support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States. If there is any meaning to the order of the constitutions that are referenced in the oath, that’s my only comment.[4] |
” |
- Rep. John Stanard said the following when the bill passed out of committee:[2]
| “ |
The supreme law of the land does supersede the state constitution, and it was better to leave it the way it is.[4] |
” |
Campaign finance
| Total campaign contributions: | |
| Support: | $0.00 |
| Opposition: | $0.00 |
As of February 17, 2017, no ballot question committees were registered to support or oppose Amendment A.[9]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Utah Constitution
According to the Utah Constitution, a two-thirds vote was required in one legislative session of the Utah Legislature to qualify the amendment for the ballot. On February 11, 2015, the Utah House of Representatives approved HJR 8, with 69 representatives voting yea and 6 voting nay.[10] The Utah Senate took up the amendment on March 2, 2015. Only one senator voted against Amendment A.[11]
House vote
February 11, 2015, House vote
| Utah HJR 8 House Vote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 69 | 92.00% | ||
| No | 8 | 47.33% | ||
Senate vote
March 2, 2015, Senate vote
| Utah HJR 8 Senate Vote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 24 | 96.00% | ||
| No | 1 | 4.00% | ||
State profile
| Demographic data for Utah | ||
|---|---|---|
| Utah | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 2,990,632 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 82,170 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 87.6% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 1.1% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 2.2% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 1.1% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.9% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.6% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 13.4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 91.2% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 31.1% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $60,727 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 12.7% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Utah. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Utah
Utah voted Republican in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.
More Utah coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Utah
- United States congressional delegations from Utah
- Public policy in Utah
- Endorsers in Utah
- Utah fact checks
- More...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Utah oath of office amendment 2016. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
Related measures
2016
| Constitutional language measures on the ballot in 2016 | |
|---|---|
| State | Measures |
| Alabama | Alabama State Constitutional Language Governing Separation of Powers, Amendment 5
|
| Colorado | Colorado Removal of Exception to Slavery Prohibition for Criminals, Amendment T |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Utah Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 8," accessed March 6, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Utah Political Capitol, "Amended Bill Would Cause Lawmakers to Protect Utah Constitution First, Federal Constitution Second," February 4, 2015
- ↑ Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office: Elections, "2016 General Election Certification," August 31, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Utah State Legislature, "House Committee Amendment 1," accessed August 20, 2016
- ↑ Open States, "HJR 8," accessed May 28, 2016
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, "HJR008 Substitute 1 - - Passed 69 - 6 - 0, 2/11/2015 3:21 PM," accessed May 29, 2016
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, "HJR008 Substitute 1 - - Passed 24 - 1 - 4, 3/2/2015 2:32 PM," accessed May 29, 2016
- ↑ Utah Disclosures,"Public search - campaign finance disclosures," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ Utah Legislature, "HJR 8 House Third Reading," accessed March 6, 2015
- ↑ Utah Legislature, "HJR 8 Senate Third Reading," accessed March 6, 2015
| |||||||||||
 |
State of Utah Salt Lake City (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2024 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
