LEGISLATIVE GENERAL COUNSEL H.B. 537
6 Approved for Filing: T.R. Vaughn 6 1st Sub. (Buff)
6 02-23-23 9:03 PM 6
Representative Kera Birkeland proposes the following substitute bill:
1 VOTING AMENDMENTS
2 2023 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Chief Sponsor: Kera Birkeland
5 Senate Sponsor: ____________
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill modifies provisions relating to mailed ballots.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 < provides that, subject to certain exceptions, an election officer is only required to
13 send ballots by mail to active voters who request, in a voter registration form or
14 another written document, to receive ballots for all future elections by mail;
15 < modifies the voter registration form to permit a voter to make the request described
16 in the preceding paragraph;
17 < requires a county clerk to, subject to certain exceptions:
18 C notify active voters of the requirement to request to receive ballots by mail; and
19 C provide active voters with a form to make the request;
20 < permits a voter to request to stop receiving ballots by mail; and 1st Sub. H.B. 537
21 < makes technical and conforming amendments.
22 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
23 None
24 Other Special Clauses:
25 None
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26 Utah Code Sections Affected:
27 AMENDS:
28 20A-1-102, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapters 18, 170
29 20A-2-104, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapter 100
30 20A-2-306, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapter 121
31 20A-3a-202, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapters 18, 121 and 156
32 20A-5-804, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 31
33 20A-6-105, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapter 100
34 ENACTS:
35 20A-3a-202.5, Utah Code Annotated 1953
36
37 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
38 Section 1. Section 20A-1-102 is amended to read:
39 20A-1-102. Definitions.
40 As used in this title:
41 (1) "Active voter" means a registered voter who has not been classified as an inactive
42 voter by the county clerk.
43 (2) "Automatic tabulating equipment" means apparatus that automatically examines
44 and counts votes recorded on ballots and tabulates the results.
45 (3) (a) "Ballot" means the storage medium, including a paper, mechanical, or electronic
46 storage medium, that records an individual voter's vote.
47 (b) "Ballot" does not include a record to tally multiple votes.
48 (4) "Ballot proposition" means a question, issue, or proposal that is submitted to voters
49 on the ballot for their approval or rejection including:
50 (a) an opinion question specifically authorized by the Legislature;
51 (b) a constitutional amendment;
52 (c) an initiative;
53 (d) a referendum;
54 (e) a bond proposition;
55 (f) a judicial retention question;
56 (g) an incorporation of a city or town; or
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57 (h) any other ballot question specifically authorized by the Legislature.
58 (5) "Bind," "binding," or "bound" means securing more than one piece of paper
59 together using staples or another means in at least three places across the top of the paper in the
60 blank space reserved for securing the paper.
61 (6) "Board of canvassers" means the entities established by Sections 20A-4-301 and
62 20A-4-306 to canvass election returns.
63 (7) "Bond election" means an election held for the purpose of approving or rejecting
64 the proposed issuance of bonds by a government entity.
65 (8) "Business reply mail envelope" means an envelope that may be mailed free of
66 charge by the sender.
67 (9) "Canvass" means the review of election returns and the official declaration of
68 election results by the board of canvassers.
69 (10) "Canvassing judge" means a poll worker designated to assist in counting ballots at
70 the canvass.
71 (11) "Contracting election officer" means an election officer who enters into a contract
72 or interlocal agreement with a provider election officer.
73 (12) "Convention" means the political party convention at which party officers and
74 delegates are selected.
75 (13) "Counting center" means one or more locations selected by the election officer in
76 charge of the election for the automatic counting of ballots.
77 (14) "Counting judge" means a poll worker designated to count the ballots during
78 election day.
79 (15) "Counting room" means a suitable and convenient private place or room for use
80 by the poll workers and counting judges to count ballots.
81 (16) "County officers" means those county officers that are required by law to be
82 elected.
83 (17) "Date of the election" or "election day" or "day of the election":
84 (a) means the day that is specified in the calendar year as the day that the election
85 occurs; and
86 (b) does not include:
87 (i) deadlines established for voting by mail, military-overseas voting, or emergency
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88 voting; or
89 (ii) any early voting or early voting period as provided under Chapter 3a, Part 6, Early
90 Voting.
91 (18) "Elected official" means:
92 (a) a person elected to an office under Section 20A-1-303 or Chapter 4, Part 6,
93 Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project;
94 (b) a person who is considered to be elected to a municipal office in accordance with
95 Subsection 20A-1-206(1)(c)(ii); or
96 (c) a person who is considered to be elected to a local district office in accordance with
97 Subsection 20A-1-206(3)(b)(ii).
98 (19) "Election" means a regular general election, a municipal general election, a
99 statewide special election, a local special election, a regular primary election, a municipal
100 primary election, and a local district election.
101 (20) "Election Assistance Commission" means the commission established by the Help
102 America Vote Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-252.
103 (21) "Election cycle" means the period beginning on the first day persons are eligible to
104 file declarations of candidacy and ending when the canvass is completed.
105 (22) "Election judge" means a poll worker that is assigned to:
106 (a) preside over other poll workers at a polling place;
107 (b) act as the presiding election judge; or
108 (c) serve as a canvassing judge, counting judge, or receiving judge.
109 (23) "Election officer" means:
110 (a) the lieutenant governor, for all statewide ballots and elections;
111 (b) the county clerk for:
112 (i) a county ballot and election; and
113 (ii) a ballot and election as a provider election officer as provided in Section
114 20A-5-400.1 or 20A-5-400.5;
115 (c) the municipal clerk for:
116 (i) a municipal ballot and election; and
117 (ii) a ballot and election as a provider election officer as provided in Section
118 20A-5-400.1 or 20A-5-400.5;
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119 (d) the local district clerk or chief executive officer for:
120 (i) a local district ballot and election; and
121 (ii) a ballot and election as a provider election officer as provided in Section
122 20A-5-400.1 or 20A-5-400.5; or
123 (e) the business administrator or superintendent of a school district for:
124 (i) a school district ballot and election; and
125 (ii) a ballot and election as a provider election officer as provided in Section
126 20A-5-400.1 or 20A-5-400.5.
127 (24) "Election official" means any election officer, election judge, or poll worker.
128 (25) "Election results" means:
129 (a) for an election other than a bond election, the count of votes cast in the election and
130 the election returns requested by the board of canvassers; or
131 (b) for bond elections, the count of those votes cast for and against the bond
132 proposition plus any or all of the election returns that the board of canvassers may request.
133 (26) "Election returns" includes the pollbook, the military and overseas absentee voter
134 registration and voting certificates, one of the tally sheets, any unprocessed ballots, all counted
135 ballots, all excess ballots, all unused ballots, all spoiled ballots, the ballot disposition form, and
136 the total votes cast form.
137 (27) "Electronic signature" means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to
138 or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign
139 the record.
140 (28) "Inactive voter" means a registered voter who is listed as inactive by a county
141 clerk under Subsection 20A-2-306(4)(c)(i) or (ii).
142 (29) "Judicial office" means the office filled by any judicial officer.
143 (30) "Judicial officer" means any justice or judge of a court of record or any county
144 court judge.
145 (31) "Local district" means a local government entity under Title 17B, Limited Purpose
146 Local Government Entities - Local Districts, and includes a special service district under Title
147 17D, Chapter 1, Special Service District Act.
148 (32) "Local district officers" means those local district board members that are required
149 by law to be elected.
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150 (33) "Local election" means a regular county election, a regular municipal election, a
151 municipal primary election, a local special election, a local district election, and a bond
152 election.
153 (34) "Local political subdivision" means a county, a municipality, a local district, or a
154 local school district.
155 (35) "Local special election" means a special election called by the governing body of a
156 local political subdivision in which all registered voters of the local political subdivision may
157 vote.
158 (36) "Manual ballot" means a paper document produced by an election officer on
159 which an individual records an individual's vote by directly placing a mark on the paper
160 document using a pen or other marking instrument.
161 (37) "Mechanical ballot" means a record, including a paper record, electronic record, or
162 mechanical record, that:
163 (a) is created via electronic or mechanical means; and
164 (b) records an individual voter's vote cast via a method other than an individual directly
165 placing a mark, using a pen or other marking instrument, to record an individual voter's vote.
166 (38) "Municipal executive" means:
167 (a) the mayor in the council-mayor form of government defined in Section 10-3b-102;
168 (b) the mayor in the council-manager form of government defined in Subsection
169 10-3b-103(7); or
170 (c) the chair of a metro township form of government defined in Section 10-3b-102.
171 (39) "Municipal general election" means the election held in municipalities and, as
172 applicable, local districts on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each
173 odd-numbered year for the purposes established in Section 20A-1-202.
174 (40) "Municipal legislative body" means:
175 (a) the council of the city or town in any form of municipal government; or
176 (b) the council of a metro township.
177 (41) "Municipal office" means an elective office in a municipality.
178 (42) "Municipal officers" means those municipal officers that are required by law to be
179 elected.
180 (43) "Municipal primary election" means an election held to nominate candidates for
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181 municipal office.
182 (44) "Municipality" means a city, town, or metro township.
183 (45) "Official ballot" means the ballots distributed by the election officer for voters to
184 record their votes.
185 (46) "Official endorsement" means the information on the ballot that identifies:
186 (a) the ballot as an official ballot;
187 (b) the date of the election; and
188 (c) (i) for a ballot prepared by an election officer other than a county clerk, the
189 facsimile signature required by Subsection 20A-6-401(1)(a)(iii); or
190 (ii) for a ballot prepared by a county clerk, the words required by Subsection
191 20A-6-301(1)(b)(iii).
192 (47) "Official register" means the official record furnished to election officials by the
193 election officer that contains the information required by Section 20A-5-401.
194 (48) "Political party" means an organization of registered voters that has qualified to
195 participate in an election by meeting the requirements of Chapter 8, Political Party Formation
196 and Procedures.
197 (49) (a) "Poll worker" means a person assigned by an election official to assist with an
198 election, voting, or counting votes.
199 (b) "Poll worker" includes election judges.
200 (c) "Poll worker" does not include a watcher.
201 (50) "Pollbook" means a record of the names of voters in the order that they appear to
202 cast votes.
203 (51) "Polling place" means a building where voting is conducted.
204 (52) "Position" means a square, circle, rectangle, or other geometric shape on a ballot
205 in which the voter marks the voter's choice.
206 (53) "Presidential Primary Election" means the election established in Chapter 9, Part
207 8, Presidential Primary Election.
208 (54) "Primary convention" means the political party conventions held during the year
209 of the regular general election.
210 (55) "Protective counter" means a separate counter, which cannot be reset, that:
211 (a) is built into a voting machine; and
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212 (b) records the total number of movements of the operating lever.
213 (56) "Provider election officer" means an election officer who enters into a contract or
214 interlocal agreement with a contracting election officer to conduct an election for the
215 contracting election officer's local political subdivision in accordance with Section
216 20A-5-400.1.
217 (57) "Provisional ballot" means a ballot voted provisionally by a person:
218 (a) whose name is not listed on the official register at the polling place;
219 (b) whose legal right to vote is challenged as provided in this title; or
220 (c) whose identity was not sufficiently established by a poll worker.
221 (58) "Provisional ballot envelope" means an envelope printed in the form required by
222 Section 20A-6-105 that is used to identify provisional ballots and to provide information to
223 verify a person's legal right to vote.
224 (59) (a) "Public figure" means an individual who, due to the individual being
225 considered for, holding, or having held a position of prominence in a public or private capacity,
226 or due to the individual's celebrity status, has an increased risk to the individual's safety.
227 (b) "Public figure" does not include an individual:
228 (i) elected to public office; or
229 (ii) appointed to fill a vacancy in an elected public office.
230 (60) "Qualify" or "qualified" means to take the oath of office and begin performing the
231 duties of the position for which the individual was elected.
232 (61) "Receiving judge" means the poll worker that checks the voter's name in the
233 official register at a polling place and provides the voter with a ballot.
234 (62) "Registration form" means a form by which an individual may register to vote
235 under this title.
236 (63) "Regular ballot" means a ballot that is not a provisional ballot.
237 (64) "Regular general election" means the election held throughout the state on the first
238 Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year for the purposes
239 established in Section 20A-1-201.
240 (65) "Regular primary election" means the election, held on the date specified in
241 Section 20A-1-201.5, to nominate candidates of political parties and candidates for nonpartisan
242 local school board positions to advance to the regular general election.
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243 (66) "Resident" means a person who resides within a specific