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Show Arguments Against Voters should reject Proposition 2, because certain improvements need to be made in it before consent is given for this amending of the Utah Constitution. The following arguments deal with those portions of Proposition 2 which provide reasons to oppose it at this time. The brief proposal for Article IX, Section 1 is inadequate. Instead of as proposed, that section needs to have a statement of the states responsibility in the election of members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate in keeping with federal law. The section should refer to new apportionments by Congress, as well as to the United States enumeration (census) in setting forth the Legislatures duty in dividing the state accordingly. It should specify that the districts referred to are districts having to do with elections. It would also be a protection of fair division to specify that each is to be one whole parcel, not made up of separated parcels. For historical sense, Article XIX, Section 1 should not be eliminated. That section ought to be retained for its historical record of part of the transition from territory to state which is of on going consequence, not action to be reversed by repeal of the section. The responsibility indicated in Article XIX, Section 2 should not be repealed. The part of that section beginning with "institutions and continuing on through to the end of the section ought to be retained as a statement of state responsibility. Appropriate parts of Article XIX, Section 3 should be retained. The last two paragraphs of that section should remain with some modification. Use the wording change: The seat of state government shall be at Salt Lake City; but keep it in Article XIX, Section 3 where it is appropriate, rather than moving it to become one of the miscellaneous items in Article XXII. Additionally, the last paragraph of Article XIX, Section 3 ought to be (with needed grammatical changes) retained in keeping with the statement of responsibility in Section 2 of the article. Voters should note that the other portions of Proposition are desirable, but can wait for the above improvements before being approved. Those desirable parts of Proposition 2 are not urgent because they are a matter of eliminating passe andor ineffectual wording or deal with changes that are not of pressing need. Therefore, those revisions and the improvements suggested above can be proposed by the upcoming Legislature and approved by the voters at the next general election two years 2 from now. Vote AGAINST Proposition 2! Marjorie Childs 342 Camaren Drive Brigham City, Utah 84302 Rebuttal to Arguments Against Proposition io. 2 Proposition 2 revises the Utah Constitution to bring it in line with current reapportionment practices. Proposition 2 provides the Legislature with the clear authority to reapportion congressional, legislative, and state school board districts. With a new census coming up in 1990, this authority is essential. It should not be cluttered by specific requirements for the number of congressmen to be elected, an unnecessary state census, and the shape and size of districts. All of these are already provided for by the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court. They need not be restated in the Utah Constitution. Proposition 2 eliminates unnecessary language. Utah's constitution, like most state constitutions written in the late 19th century, contains a lot of detail about the operations of government. The U.S. Constitution, on the other hand, is brief and contains very little detail. Yet it still provides us with the basic framework of government. Following that model, the constitutions of the original thirteen states are also states such as relatively brief, as are those of recently-admitteAlaska and Hawaii. Where possible, Utahs constitution should also minimize the detail and provide for the flexibility to run the operations of government. Proposition 2 simply eliminates much of the unnecessary detail from the Utah Constitution. Vote "FOR Proposition 2! Senator Lyle W. Hillyard 175 East 100 North Logan, Utah 84321 Representative Ted D. Lewis 4505 South Wasatch Drive, Suite 310 Salt Lake City, Utah 84124 |