BOISE – Today, the Idaho Supreme Court rejected most of the legal challenges brought against the ballot titles drafted by Attorney General Raúl Labrador for an initiative that seeks to legalize elective abortion in Idaho.
The Court affirmed the neutrality and legality of the Attorney General’s drafting, rejecting claims by initiative sponsors that the ballot titles were biased. The Court’s only disagreement with the drafting centered on the 20-word short title, finding that it should have referenced additional features from the 1,226-word initiative text.
In its opinion, the Court acknowledged the difficulty of summarizing such a lengthy and complex initiative in only 20 words, calling it “a challenging task.” Notably, the initiative sponsors’ own proposed title failed to capture the key features the Court considered important.
The Court also issued a ruling on the Department of Financial Management’s fiscal impact statement, concluding it did not meet statutory requirements. Although the Attorney General did not draft the statement, his office defended it in court.
“I’m pleased the Court upheld the majority of our ballot title work, especially rejecting the unfounded claims of bias and acknowledged the challenging task of summarizing a 1,226-word initiative in just 20 words,” said Attorney General Labrador. “We will move swiftly to revise the short title in accordance with the Court’s guidance.”