“Amendments to Election Law,” or HB300, has been criticized as a policy change that will make it more difficult for some communities to vote.
By Emily Anderson Stern, The Salt Lake Tribune
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.
Tucked in the middle of a list of 100 bills Gov. Spencer Cox signed Thursday was “Amendments to Election Law,” or HB300 — the law that is set to end Utah’s popular universal vote-by-mail election system, forcing voters to opt in before 2029 to receive and send a ballot through the mail.
The governor did not include a comment on his decision to sign the bill in the news release, as he has for some other bills.
An initial version of the bill would have effectively eliminated Utahns’ option to vote via the postal service altogether, but the version Cox ultimately signed allows voters to opt in to participating in elections through the mail. Utahns must opt in before 2029, when counties will stop sending ballots to every voter’s mailbox.
The compromise came after widespread opposition among the elected officials who oversee the state’s elections, as well as skepticism from the Senate over cutting off access to voting by mail.
Voters may ask to receive ballots in the mail when they apply for or renew their ID or driver license, or when they vote in person. Utahns will also be able to make that selection online. Once the voter requests to participate in elections by mail, a ballot should show up in their mailbox for eight years unless they fail to vote in a regular election.
To read more about HB 300 visit The Salt Lake Tribune.
1 comment
Richard Genck
I am glad that universal mail-in balloting is done away. Utah was the only Republican state that had it. People who need mail-in ballots can still opt-in to them, but requiring the overwhelming majority of people to vote in person, with a photo ID, will improve trust in Utah elections.