Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LEGISLATIVE GENERAL COUNSEL                                            H.B. 582
Approved for Filing: M. Cipriano 6
          6 02-21-24 9:23 AM 6
                            VOTING METHODS AMENDMENTS
                                     2024 GENERAL SESSION
                                         STATE OF UTAH
                           Chief Sponsor: Kay J. Christofferson
                                Senate Sponsor: ____________
 6
 LONG TITLE
 General Description:
        This bill modifies the Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project.
 Highlighted Provisions:
        This bill:
        < subject to certain exceptions, authorizes a municipality to conduct an election using
 instant runoff voting during the municipal primary election and the municipal
 general election; and
        < makes technical and conforming changes.
 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
        None
 Other Special Clauses:
        None
 Utah Code Sections Affected:
 AMENDS:
        20A-4-101, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapter 342
        20A-4-102, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapters 156, 297
        20A-4-601, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapter 342
        20A-4-602, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapter 170
                                                                                                      H.B. 582
        20A-4-603, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapter 342
 ENACTS:
     *HB0582*
       H.B. 582                                                                     02-21-24 9:23 AM
         20A-4-603.1, Utah Code Annotated 1953
         20A-4-603.2, Utah Code Annotated 1953
30
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
         Section 1. Section 20A-4-101 is amended to read:
         20A-4-101. Manual ballots cast at a polling place -- Counting manual ballots at
 polling place on day of election before polls close.
         (1) Each county legislative body, municipal legislative body, and each poll worker
 shall comply with the requirements of this section when counting manual ballots on the day of
 an election, if:
         (a) the ballots are cast at a polling place; and
         (b) the ballots are counted at the polling place before the polls close.
         (2) (a) Each county legislative body or municipal legislative body shall provide:
         (i) two sets of ballot boxes for all voting precincts where both receiving and counting
 judges have been appointed; and
         (ii) a counting room for the use of the poll workers counting the ballots during the day.
         (b) At any election in any voting precinct in which both receiving and counting judges
 have been appointed, when at least 20 votes have been cast, the receiving judges shall:
         (i) close the first ballot box and deliver it to the counting judges; and
         (ii) prepare and use another ballot box to receive voted ballots.
         (c) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(f), upon receipt of the ballot box, the counting
 judges shall:
         (i) take the ballot box to the counting room;
         (ii) count the votes on the regular ballots in the ballot box;
         (iii) place the provisional ballot envelopes in the envelope or container provided for
 them for return to the election officer; and
         (iv) when they have finished counting the votes in the ballot box, return the emptied
 box to the receiving judges.
         (d) (i) During the course of election day, whenever there are at least 20 ballots
 contained in a ballot box, the receiving judges shall deliver that ballot box to the counting
 judges for counting; and
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       02-21-24 9:23 AM                                                                         H.B. 582
         (ii) the counting judges shall immediately count the regular ballots and segregate the
 provisional ballots contained in that box.
         (e) The counting judges shall continue to exchange the ballot boxes and count ballots
 until the polls close.
         (f) (i) The director of elections within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor shall make
 rules in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act,
 describing the procedures that a counting judge is required to follow for counting ballots in an
 instant runoff voting race under Part 6, Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project.
         (ii) When counting ballots in an instant runoff voting race described in Part 6,
 Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project, a counting judge shall comply with the
 procedures established under Subsection (2)(f)(i) and Part 6, Municipal Alternate Voting
 Methods Pilot Project.
         (3) To resolve questions that arise during the counting of ballots, a counting judge shall
 apply the standards and requirements of:
         (a) to the extent applicable, Section 20A-4-105; and
         (b) as applicable, for an instant runoff voting race under Part 6, Municipal Alternate
 Voting Methods Pilot Project, Subsections [20A-4-603(3) through (5)] 20A-4-603(4) through
 (6).
         Section 2. Section 20A-4-102 is amended to read:
         20A-4-102. Manual ballots cast at a polling place -- Counting manual ballots at
 polling place on day of election after polls close.
         (1) (a) This section governs counting manual ballots on the day of an election, if:
         (i) the ballots are cast at a polling place; and
         (ii) the ballots are counted at the polling place after the polls close.
         (b) Except as provided in Subsection (2) or a rule made under Subsection
 20A-4-101(2)(f)(i), as soon as the polls have been closed and the last qualified voter has voted,
 the election judges shall count the ballots by performing the tasks specified in this section in
 the order that they are specified.
         (c) To resolve questions that arise during the counting of ballots, a counting judge shall
 apply the standards and requirements of:
         (i) to the extent applicable, Section 20A-4-105; and
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        H.B. 582                                                                     02-21-24 9:23 AM
         (ii) as applicable, for an instant runoff voting race under Part 6, Municipal Alternate
 Voting Methods Pilot Project, Subsections [20A-4-603(3) through (5)] 20A-4-603(4) through
 (6).
         (2) (a) First, the election judges shall count the number of ballots in the ballot box.
         (b) (i) If there are more ballots in the ballot box than there are names entered in the
 pollbook, the judges shall examine the official endorsements on the ballots.
         (ii) If, in the unanimous opinion of the judges, any of the ballots do not bear the proper
 official endorsement, the judges shall put those ballots in an excess ballot file and not count
 them.
         (c) (i) If, after examining the official endorsements, there are still more ballots in the
 ballot box than there are names entered in the pollbook, the judges shall place the remaining
 ballots back in the ballot box.
         (ii) One of the judges, without looking, shall draw a number of ballots equal to the
 excess from the ballot box.
         (iii) The judges shall put those excess ballots into the excess ballot envelope and not
 count them.
         (d) When the ballots in the ballot box equal the number of names entered in the
 pollbook, the judges shall count the votes.
         (3) The judges shall:
         (a) place all unused ballots in the envelope or container provided for return to the
 county clerk or city recorder; and
         (b) seal that envelope or container.
         (4) The judges shall:
         (a) place all of the provisional ballot envelopes in the envelope provided for them for
 return to the election officer; and
         (b) seal that envelope or container.
         (5) (a) In counting the votes, the election judges shall read and count each ballot
 separately.
         (b) In regular primary elections the judges shall:
         (i) count the number of ballots cast for each party;
         (ii) place the ballots cast for each party in separate piles; and
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        02-21-24 9:23 AM                                                                           H.B. 582
         (iii) count all the ballots for one party before beginning to count the ballots cast for
 other parties.
         (6) (a) In all elections, the counting judges shall, except as provided in Part 6,
 Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project, or a rule made under Subsection
 20A-4-101(2)(f)(i):
         (i) count one vote for each candidate designated by the marks in the squares next to the
 candidate's name;
         (ii) count each vote for each write-in candidate who has qualified by filing a
 declaration of candidacy under Section 20A-9-601;
         (iii) read every name marked on the ballot and mark every name upon the tally sheets
 before another ballot is counted;
         (iv) evaluate each ballot and each vote based on the standards and requirements of
 Section 20A-4-105;
         (v) write the word "spoiled" on the back of each ballot that lacks the official
 endorsement and deposit it in the spoiled ballot envelope; and
         (vi) read, count, and record upon the tally sheets the votes that each candidate and
 ballot proposition received from all ballots, except excess or spoiled ballots.
         (b) Election judges need not tally write-in votes for fictitious persons, nonpersons, or
 persons clearly not eligible to qualify for office.
         (c) The judges shall certify to the accuracy and completeness of the tally list in the
 space provided on the tally list.
         (d) When the judges have counted all of the voted ballots, they shall record the results
 on the total votes cast form.
         (7) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (7)(b), only an election judge and a watcher
 may be present at the place where counting is conducted until the count is completed.
         (b) (i) An auditor conducting an audit described in Section 36-12-15.2 may be present
 at the place where counting is conducted, regardless of whether the count is completed.
         (ii) The lieutenant governor may be present at the place where counting is conducted,
 regardless of whether the count is completed.
         Section 3. Section 20A-4-601 is amended to read:
         20A-4-601. Definitions.
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        H.B. 582                                                                        02-21-24 9:23 AM
          As used in this part:
          (1) "Candidate amplifier" means the product of:
          (a) two less than the total number of candidates in a given ballot-counting phase of a
 multi-candidate race; and
          (b) .02%.
          (2) "First preference ranking" means the candidate selected as the candidate most
 preferred by a voter, as indicated by:
          (a) the number one; or
          (b) if the voter does not assign the number one to any candidate, the number two.
          (3) "Multi-candidate race" means a nonpartisan municipal race where:
          (a) for the election of at-large officers, the number of candidates who qualify for the
 race:
          (i) exceeds the total number of seats to be filled; or
          (ii) is at least three times the total number of seats to be filled, if the race is a municipal
 primary race conducted under Section 20A-4-603.2; or
          (b) for the election of an officer other than an at-large officer[,]:
          (i) more than two candidates qualify to run for [one office.] a single office; or
          (ii) at least four candidates qualify to run for a single office, if the race is a municipal
 primary race conducted under Section 20A-4-603.2.
          (4) "Participating municipality" means a municipality that is participating in the pilot
 project, in accordance with Subsection 20A-4-602(3).
          (5) "Pilot project" means the Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project created
 in Section 20A-4-602.
          (6) "Recount threshold" means the sum of the candidate amplifier and the following:
          (a) for a ballot-counting phase in which fewer than 100 valid rankings are counted,
 0.21%;
          (b) for a ballot-counting phase in which at least 100, but fewer than 500, valid rankings
 are counted, 0.19%;
          (c) for a ballot-counting phase in which at least 500, but fewer than 1,000, valid
 rankings are counted, 0.17%;
          (d) for a ballot-counting phase in which at least 1,000, but fewer than 5,000, valid
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        02-21-24 9:23 AM                                                                           H.B. 582
 rankings are counted, 0.15%;
           (e) for a ballot-counting phase in which at least 5,000, but fewer than 10,000, valid
 rankings are counted, 0.13%; and
           (f) for a ballot-counting phase in which 10,000 or more valid rankings are counted,
 0.11%.
           (7) "Valid" means that the ballot is marked in a manner that permits the ranking to be
 counted during the applicable ballot-counting phase.
           Section 4. Section 20A-4-602 is amended to read:
           20A-4-602. Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project -- Creation --
 Participation.
           (1) There is created the Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project.
           (2) The pilot project begins on January 1, 2019, and ends on January 1, 2026.
           (3) (a) A municipality may participate in the pilot project, in accordance with the
 requirements of this section and all other applicable provisions of law, during any
 odd-numbered year that the pilot project is in effect, if, before May 1 of the odd-numbered
 year, the legislative body of the municipality:
           (i) votes to participate; and
           (ii) provides written notice to the lieutenant governor and the county clerk:
           (A) stating that the municipality intends to participate in the pilot project for the year
 specified in the notice[.]; and
           (B) specifying the elections for which the municipality intends to use instant runoff
 voting.
           (b) The legislative body of a municipality that provides the notice of intent described in
 Subsection (3)(a) may withdraw the notice of intent, and not participate in the pilot project, if
 the legislative body of the municipality provides written notice of withdrawal to the lieutenant
 governor and the county clerk before May 1.
           (4) The lieutenant governor shall maintain, in a prominent place on the lieutenant
 governor's website, a current list of the municipalities that are participating in the pilot project.
           (5) (a) An election officer of a participating municipality shall, in accordance with the
 provisions of this part and the specification made under Subsection (3)(a)(ii)(B), conduct a
 multi-candidate race [during the municipal general election using instant runoff voting.] using
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        H.B. 582                                                                    02-21-24 9:23 AM
 instant runoff voting:
         (i) during only the municipal general election;
         (ii) during only the municipal primary election; or
         (iii) subject to Subsection 20A-4-603.2(5), during the municipal primary election and
 the municipal general election.
         (b) [Except as provided in Subsection 20A-4-603(9), an election officer of a
 participating municipality that will conduct a multi-candidate race under Subsection (5)(a) may
 not conduct a municipal primary election relating to that race.] An election officer of a
 participating municipality that will conduct a multi-candidate race:
         (i) described in Subsection (5)(a)(i), may not conduct a municipal primary election
 relating to that race; or
         (ii) described in Subsection (5)(a)(ii), may not conduct a municipal general election
 relating to that race using instant runoff voting.
         (c) A municipality that has in effect an ordinance described in Subsection
 20A-9-404(3) or (4) may not participate in the pilot project.
         (6) [Except for an election described in Subsection 20A-4-603(9), an] An individual
 who files a declaration of candidacy or a nomination petition, for a candidate who will run in
 an election described in this part, shall file the declaration of candidacy or nomination petition
 during the office hours described in Section 10-3-301 and not later than the close of those
 office hours[,]:
         (a) no sooner than the second Tuesday in August and no later than the third Tuesday in
 August of an odd-numbered year[.], for a municipality that will conduct a multi-candidate race
 described in Subsection (5)(a)(i);
         (b) no sooner than June 1 and no later than June 7 of an odd-numbered year, for a
 municipality that will conduct a multi-candidate race described in Subsection (5)(a)(ii); or
         (c) except as provided in Subsection 20A-4-603.2(5)(b)(ii), no sooner than June 1 and
 no later than June 7 of an odd-numbered year, for a munic