The long-running drama over the City of Amarillo’s Prop A ballot language appears to finally be at an end. Amarillo City Council has approved a finalized version of the ballot language, leaving the fate of the ordinance in the hands of city voters.

The first version of ballot language put forward by staff mirrored ballot language used by the City of Lubbock in 2021, though the council expressed opposition, citing the fact that the version of the ordinance put forward by petitioners was far more complex and multifaceted than the City of Lubbock ordinance. The City of Lubbock version is only 8 pages long, while the City of Amarillo version is 18 pages.

(Lubbock County did pass a similar ordinance to the one now being considered in Amarillo last year, though that version was passed by the Lubbock County Commissioners’ Court and was not placed on the ballot.)

A much longer version of ballot language was then considered by Amarillo City Council. While the newer version was far lengthier, members of the council defended the length at the time, stating that it was necessary to cover all aspects of the ordinance. One major point of contention remained, however, with the phrase “establishing a criminal offense for any person to manufacture, possess, or distribute abortion inducing drugs in the city of Amarillo” earning criticism from the group that had petitioned for the ordinance. Supporters of the ordinance cited the fact that it only contained a private right of action as an enforcement mechanism and said that the “criminal offense” language was inaccurate.

Jarad Najvar, an attorney representing the group that petitioned for the ordinance, penned a letter to Amarillo City Council warning of a possible lawsuit regarding the “criminal offense” language. “Whichever side loses the election will have an incentive to bring legal action to void the election for misleading ballot language,” wrote Najvar.

Ultimately, Amarillo City Council agreed to change the language, removing the phrase “establishing a criminal offense” and replacing it with “and shall be unlawful.” This version of the ballot language, which was nearly 300 words long, was approved by a vote of 4 to 1, with Councilman Place 1 Josh Craft dissenting, arguing a need for further review of the language.

Despite the council passing the ballot language, Craft’s desire that the language be further reviewed ultimately won out. After passage, the elections administrators for both Potter and Randall Counties, who are set to run the election, raised technical concerns over the length of the language.

“Prop A is super lengthy and does not fit on our traditional ballot template. I would normally have a 3-column ballot but am now forced to use a 1-column that makes my ballot 3 front/back pages,” wrote Potter County Elections Administrator Christy Benge in an email obtained by The Amarillo Pioneer. “The problem with that is some people will not return all the pages. The pages that will not get returned will have city props on them. They will return the first page with the presidential race.”

Benge also noted that upgrading the systems used by the counties could solve the issue, but said it would have been unrealistic. “Personally, upgrading is not an option for us at this point. The cost would be close to $30k, but the bigger factor is time,” wrote Benge. A similar sentiment was expressed by Randall County Elections Administrator Shannon Lackey, who wrote in a separate email also obtained by The Amarillo Pioneer that “It will be over $10K per county to obtain the upgrade that is required.”

Amarillo City Council agreed to look into changing the ballot language. Both City Attorney Bryan McWilliams and outside counsel for Amarillo City Council worked on shortening the language. This appears to have caused some frustration among city staff, with one city employee writing in an email that “we have too many cooks in the kitchen on this one.”

Ultimately, three versions of the language were put before the council for consideration during last week’s council meeting. Option #1, the shortest version, was largely modeled on the City of Lubbock’s ballot language, with some added details regarding the additional provisions contained within the Amarillo version. Option #2, longer than the first option, was described by City Secretary Stephanie Coggins as “the medium length option.” Option #3 was the longest of the three put before the council. Coggins did note that, on the electronic voting machines, it would be the only option which would require users to scroll to see all of the text.

Potter County Administrator Shannon Lackey expressed concerns regarding making any further changes beyond the three options. “I have about 200 military ballots and that is federal law that I must get them out. So, in order for us to take this back, test it again, bring it back to council, there is simply not time.”

Councilman Don Tipps opened the discussion by advocating for Option #2. “Option #2 is succinct, I think it hits all the issues that I think that need to be out there,” said Tipps. “Obviously, its not nearly as comprehensive as what we had initially put out there.”

Councilman Tom Scherlen countered with Option #3. “I always think, the more the better,” said Scherlen. “People need to know everything that’s there, and when you start chopping it up, I have a problem.”

Councilmen Les Simpson and Josh Craft expressed agreement with Scherlen, leading Tipps to relent and offer his support for Option #3. The council voted unanimously to accept Option #3, though an error in the wording of the initial motion led to the council taking a second vote to finalize approving the option later in the meeting.

The final version of the Proposition A ballot language that will appear on the November ballot is as follows:

The Code of Ordinances of the City Of Amarillo, Texas shall be amended to adopt an initiated ordinance, submitted by the Amarillo Sanctuary City for the Unborn Citizen Initiative Petition Initiating Committee, declaring the City of Amarillo a sanctuary city for the unborn; declaring that abortion at all times and at all stages of pregnancy is unlawful unless an abortion is performed to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency; finding that abortion-inducing drugs are declared contraband and it shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, possess, or distribute abortion-inducing drugs in the City of Amarillo; prohibiting abortions within the City of Amarillo; prohibiting abortions on City of Arnarillo residents; prohibiting abortion trafficking of an unborn child; prohibiting abortion-inducing drugs in the City of Amarillo; prohibiting any organization that violates 18 U.S.C. Sections 1461 or 1462 by facilitating abortions from operating or doing business in the City of Amarillo; prohibiting the transportation or disposal in the City of Amarillo Of the remains of an unborn child killed by an abortion; providing a private right of action; providing for affirmative defenses; providing for severability and providing an effective date.