Court Opinion

ID: 9836197
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-02 03:01:56.396101+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:45:14.318502
License: Public Domain

Taylor, J.,
with whom Kauger and Winchester, JJ., join, concurring:
J 1 The crucial purpose of the gist and the ballot title is to inform citizens. The information in the gist and the ballot title must be correct, clear, and direct and adequately explain the proposed changes. See 34 0.S.2011, § 3; 34 O.S.Supp. 2015, § 9; In re Initiative Petition No. 397, State Question 767, 2014 OK 283, 11 50, 826 P.3d 496, 515; In re Initiative Petition No. 384, State Question 731, 2007 OK 48, ¶ 7, 164 P.3d 125, 130. Today's *145majority opinion is an important step in providing correct information to the voters. 'For that reason, I concur.
T2 In January, I dissented, joined by Justices Kauger and Winchester, to this Court's opinion finding the petition constitutional and pointed to very serious flaws in the gist and ballot title that were originally proposed. In re Initiative Petition No. 403, State Question No. 779, 2016 OK 1, 367 P.3d 472 (Taylor, J., dissenting). I stand by every word of my dissent. Interestingly, the Attorney General also recognized several serious problems with the ballot title and, by inference, problems with the gist. He directed revisions in the ballot title, but- it was too late to correct the misinformation caused by the flawed gist, and the Attorney General did not go far enough,. .
T8 -I concur with this majority opinion. It recognizes the maby flaws with the ballot title, and, by relation, the gist, although it is too late to repair the fatally flawed gist, and properly re-writes the ballot title to a correct legal standard. This opinion insures the right of citizens to be properly informed.
[ 4 In the previous dissent, we pointed out that the power granted to the State Board of Equalization was missing from the proposed gist and ballot title, That crucial information should have been there from the start, but it was not, That information is now included in the ballot title and should have been included in the gist.
15 I strongly concur with the majority opinion that this proposed one cent per dollar sales tax increase, which is actually a 22% increase in the state sales tax, must be presented in a clear and concise format, All previous descriptions of this proposed state | sales tax increase have been very ambiguous. This proposed tax increase is made clear by the re-written ballot title, but too late to inform those who signed the initiative petition. >
T6 It is important that the majority opinion details for the voter the amounts of this proposed tax increase that will be given to each area of education. That is again critical information given to the voter, but not to the signers of the petition.
T7 The concerns in our previous dissent have been acted upon. The dissent's initial concerns about the information. contained, and not contained, in the gist have been sustained by the Attorney General and now by this majority opinion of our Court, The gist was at the top of each signature sheet that was elrculated and signed by thousands of citizens and" should 'have contained the revised language adopted by the majority opinion. The information provided by the gist has been inferentially found by this majority opinion to be flawed. If the information was important enough to be required in the ballot title, it certainly was important enough to have been in the information provided to those citizens who were asked to sign the petition. -
"[ 8 This Court's mission and mandate is to insure that voters are timely, fairly, and fully informed before they undertake the solemn duty of consideration of amendments to our Constitution. For information in a petition's gist to be timely and fair, I would require that the gist be challenged within the same ten day time frame for challenging the constitutionality of a petition. In re Initiative Petition No. 403, State Question No. 779, 2016 OK 1, 367 P.3d 472 (Taylor, J., dissenting); In re Initiative Petition No. 403, State Question No. 779, 2016 OK 59; -- P.3d --- (Taylor, J., dissenting) (not yet released for publication); see In re Initiative Petition No. 409, State Question No. 786, 2016 OK 51, 376 P.3d 250 (not yet released for publication), Importantly, this Court's redraft of the ballot title finally presents a fair statement of the proposition's effect, Unfortunately, it is too late to properly inform the initiative petition's signatories, but, with this Court's redraft of the ballot title, voters will have the opportunity to cast an informed vote.