FAQS

Q. Isn't the right to a secret ballot in the Utah Constitution already?
A. Surprisingly, no. The use of a secret ballot in America was first deemed necessary to protect the voting rights of recently freed slaves after the Civil War. Voter intimidation during southern reconstruction was rampant, with African American first-time voters being threatened with physical violence, even lynching, based on how their publicly known ballots were cast. In 1892, Grover Cleveland became the first United State president elected by secret ballot. Utah’s constitution has never expressly protected this right.

Q. Is there support in Utah for this Amendment?
A. Polling by Wilson Research Strategies shows that 83% of Utahns STRONGLY support a constitutional amendment that protects secret ballots.

Q. Is there support in Utah from Union members for this Amendment?
A. 87% of union members support

Q. Is the right to a secret ballot being threatened? By whom?
A. Yes. A majority in Congress, being led by Big Labor, want to end the requirement that secret ballots be used by employees deciding whether to ask for union representation. In fact, a bill doing away with secret ballots already passed the House of Representations 241-185, and received a 51-49 vote in the Senate. It did not pass only because of the Senate's rule of requiring 60 votes to end debate. SOS Ballot Utah wants to keep decision-making in Utah by protecting this right for Utahns in our constitution.

Q. How is SOS Ballot Utah related to the Federal Employee Free Choice Act?
A. SOS Ballot Utah is not focused directly on the federal legislation. SOS Ballot Utah is a Utah PIC organized to help pass the 2010 constitution amendment for secret ballot. However, passage of the Utah constitutional amendment will prevent the federal legislation from being implemented in Utah.

Q. What does the proposed state constitutional amendment say? What does it mean? Who wrote it?
A. It says:

It simply means that every time the law says we need to choose who represents us, it will be done by secret ballot. Constitutional scholar and attorney Clint Bolick of the Goldwater Institute wrote the language.

Q. Can a state constitutional amendment supersede a federal statute? Will this be challenged in court?
A. Yes, a state constitution can add to rights guaranteed by the federal constitution; it just can't subtract from guaranteed rights. Federal law does not automatically trump a state constitutional guarantee if the law does not specifically pre-empt states. The relevant constitutional standard in pre-emption cases is whether Congress intended to fully occupy the area of law to the exclusion of the states. Although the National Labor Relations Act generally pre-empts state laws, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that state law may prevail if it safeguards important interests and does not disrupt the federal regulatory scheme. The US Supreme Court has recognized the right to vote by secret ballot and freedom of association as important interests.

Big Labor is adamant about getting rid of secret ballot elections, so a court challenge is very likely. The Goldwater Institute will defend the law, if passed, all the way to the US Supreme Court.