Utah PAC files lawsuit against Lt. Governor in attempts to keep old state flag
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A group of Utahns who oppose the state’s new flag are headed to court in an effort to keep the state’s original flag.
The political action committee “Are You Listening Yet”, along with the main sponsor of the statewide initiative “Restoring the Utah State Flag” Tracie Halverson, filed a federal lawsuit against Lt. Gov. Diedre Henderson Thursday — days before the signature deadline to bring the topic to the ballots.
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Halvorson has reportedly been working to gather and submit signature petition packets to present the initiative to voters in the 2024 General Election since May 2023.
She, along with others, expressed concern that the new flag might “erase history” and “eliminate symbols of shared values in civil society,” according to the documents.
Halvorsen and her team reportedly “engaged in traditional signature gathering” — walking door to door and talking to people on the street — however, “Utah’s climate makes signature gathering very difficult in the winter months,” court documents state. Because of this, in part, Halverson is calling on Henderson to extend the signature deadline to July.
In addition to the signature deadline extension, Halverson is asking Henderson to count valid signatures submitted after the deadline and to provide the names of rejected signatures, among other topics.
To qualify for the ballot, the initiative needs 134,298 signatures. So far, they have received 91,622 — 12,596 of which were rejected, however, because the signatures came from people not registered to vote or who had a signature that did not match theirs on the voter database, the documents state.
In a letter provided by Henderson’s office, which can be read below, the lieutenant governor responded to some of Are You Listening Yet’s complaints.
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