Our Election Day recommendations

Tuesday may set a record, both in Utah and in the rest of the nation, for voter turnout. However, that delightful vote of confidence in democracy will have little, if anything, to do with the ballot measures voters will consider.

The Deseret News has a long-standing policy of not endorsing candidates. But we have an equally long tradition of endorsing ballot measures. The reason? We wouldn't presume to intrude upon your decisions regarding the personalities vying to become your representatives in the halls of government. Public policy questions, however, require direct democracy.

That is a tremendous responsibility that, unfortunately, tends to generate too little research and thought. Here are our recommendations:

Constitutional amendments. Voters face five of them this year. We recommend "yes" votes on all.

• Amendment A: Odd as it seems, the method for replacing a governor who dies, resigns or is incapacitated is unclear in the Utah Constitution. That's why, when Gov. Mike Leavitt left office to join President Bush's Cabinet, arguments arose as to whether Lt. Gov. Olene Walker should become the governor or merely the acting governor. This amendment puts all those arguments to rest and carefully describes the method of succession and when to hold the next election under certain circumstances. This is long overdue and deserves voter approval.

• Amendment B: This measure would allow the Legislature to put more money into a permanent state trust fund established in 2001. Specifically, the state would put money there from taxes it collects on oil, gas and mineral extraction. This makes good fiscal sense. The state's raw minerals will play out someday. Why not put the money collected from their extraction into a fund and then use the interest earned to help fund state government year after year?

The only down side to this amendment is that the Legislature passed a law allowing tax receipts only in excess of $98.6 million to go into the fund. That's not just a random number. Last year, the fund collected about $100 million. Lawmakers, of course, didn't want to lose a source of revenue that was coming directly to the general fund. And, with energy prices dropping, the fund may not see a lot of action for a while. Eventually it will, however. And eventually, future generations will be grateful voters approved this amendment.