Voting in Utah
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Contents
- 1 Voter registration
- 2 Voting in elections
- 3 Absentee voting
- 4 Early voting
- 5 Convicted felons' voting rights
- 6 Election administration costs
- 7 Election agencies
- 8 Noteworthy events
- 9 Election policy ballot measures
- 10 Election policy legislation
- 11 Recent news
- 12 See also
- 13 External links
- 14 Footnotes
Voting policies are enacted and enforced primarily at the state level. These policies, which include voter identification requirements, early voting provisions, online voter registration systems, and more, dictate the conditions under which American citizens cast their ballots in their individual states.
This page includes the following:
- Voter registration details, including methods of registering and requirements
- Details on voting in elections, including identification requirements, poll times, and primary election type
- Absentee/mail-in voting rules[1]
- Early voting rules
- Convicted felons' voting rights
- Election administration costs report
- Election agencies list
- Election policy ballot measures list
- Election policy legislation list
Voter registration
To register to vote in Utah, an applicant must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of Utah for at least 30 days prior to the election, and at least 18 years old by the next general election. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds may preregister to vote, and 17-year-olds may vote in primary elections when they will turn 18 by the general election.[2][3] Registration can be completed online or by mailing in a form.[4] The deadline to register is 11 days before the election.[5][2][6]
Automatic registration
Utah does not practice automatic voter registration.
Online registration
- See also: Online voter registration
Utah has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.
Same-day registration
In 2018, Utah enacted same-day voter registration; voters may register by provisional ballot.[7]
Residency requirements
Prospective voters must be residents of the state for at least 30 days before the election.
Verification of citizenship
Utah does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Verifying your registration
The Utah Lieutenant Governor’s office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.
Voting in elections
Voter identification
- See also: Voter identification laws by state
Utah requires voters to present identification while voting.[8]
The following list of accepted ID was current as of November 2019. Click here for the Utah State Legislature's statute regulating accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.
- Valid Utah driver’s license
- Valid identification card that is issued by the state; a branch, department, or agency of the United States
- Valid Utah permit to carry a concealed weapon
- Valid United States passport
- Valid United States military identification card
- Valid tribal identification card
- Bureau of Indian Affairs card
- Tribal treaty card
If a voter does not have one of the forms of identification listed above, he or she can provide two forms of identification that state the voter’s name and address listed below:[9]
- Current utility bill or a legible copy dated within the 90 days before the election
- Bank or another financial account statement, or a legible copy
- Certified birth certificate
- Valid social security card
- Check issued by the state or the federal government or a legible copy
- Paycheck from the voter's employer or a legible copy
- Currently valid Utah hunting or fishing license
- Certified naturalization documentation
- Currently valid license issued by an authorized agency of the United States
- Certified copy of court records showing the voter's adoption or name change
- Valid Medicaid card, Medicare card, or Electronic Benefits Transfer Card
- Currently valid identification card issued by a local government within the state
- Currently valid identification card issued by an employer
- Currently valid identification card issued by a college, university, technical school, or professional school located within the state
- Current Utah vehicle registration
Background
As of April 2021, 35 states enforced (or were scheduled to begin enforcing) voter identification requirements. A total of 21 states required voters to present photo identification at the polls; the remainder accepted other forms of identification. Valid forms of identification differ by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.[10][11]
Poll times
- See also: State poll opening and closing times
In Utah, all polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[12]
Primary election type
- See also: Primary elections in Utah
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Utah, parties decide who may vote in their primaries. Registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters may vote in the Democratic primary. Only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary.[13]
Absentee voting
- See also: Absentee voting
All voters are eligible to vote absentee in Utah. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee.[14]
To vote absentee, an application must be received by county election officials no later than the Thursday before Election Day. A completed absentee ballot must be postmarked by the day before the election.[15][16]
Early voting
- See also: Early voting
Utah permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.
As of April 2021, 38 states and the District of Columbia permitted early voting. Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on election day. States that do not permit early voting still permit some or all citizens to vote early by mail—often known as absentee voting. Some states allow no-excuse absentee voting, while others require an excuse. States that allow in-person absentee voting without an excuse are counted among early voting states. Click here for early voting laws by state.[17]
Convicted felons' voting rights
- See also: Voting rights for convicted felons
In Utah, individuals convicted of a felony regain their right to vote when they have completed their sentence of incarceration, or are granted parole or probation. Click here for Utah's rules and procedure on restoring voting rights for individuals with felony convictions.
Voting rights for convicted felons vary from state to state. In the majority of states, convicted felons cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.[18][19]
Election administration costs
National Conference of State Legislatures report, 2018
On February 14, 2018, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released a report on the costs of election administration in the states: "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections." The report's authors noted that "no one knows how much [states] spend on elections ... [because] good research on election costs is slim." Generally, local units of government (most often counties, but sometimes cities and towns) are primarily responsible for election administration costs, though states and the federal government may also contribute. The report identified the states listed in the table below as assuming financial responsibility for at least some aspects of election administration.[20]
To access the complete NCSL report, click here.
| Election administration costs assumed by state | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State pays all expenses for federal or state elections | State bears a portion of election costs | State pays for statewide special elections or statewide elections that don’t coincide with regularly scheduled elections | State pays for primary elections (statewide, presidential, or both) |
| Alaska Delaware |
Alabama Colorado Hawaii Kentucky Louisiana Rhode Island |
Arkansas Florida Iowa Michigan Missouri New Jersey North Dakota Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Tennessee Washington West Virginia |
Arizona Arkansas Idaho Kansas Michigan Minnesota Missouri South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington |
| Note: If a state is not listed above, it was not included in the report. Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections," February 14, 2018 | |||
Election agencies
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about voting provisions in Utah can contact the following state and federal agencies.
Utah Lieutenant Governor
- Utah State Capitol Complex
- Suite 220
- P.O. Box 142325
- Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2325
- Telephone: 800-995-8683
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- 1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300
- Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
- Telephone: 866-747-1471
Noteworthy events
2018
On March 7, 2018, HB 218 cleared the Utah State Legislature. The legislation established procedures for same-day voter registration and opt-in registration during transactions with state driver's license agencies. The bill was introduced in the Utah House of Representatives on January 24, 2018. On February 5, 2018, a substitute bill cleared the House by a vote of 70 to 0, with five members absent or not voting. The Utah State Senate passed an amended version of the bill on March 7, 2018, by a vote of 24 to 0, with five members absent or not voting. The House approved the amended version of the bill on the same day by a vote of 70 to 0, with five members absent or not voting. The bill was signed into law on March 19, 2018.[21][22]
Election policy ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked the following ballot measures relating to election and campaign policy in Utah.
- Utah Authorization of Recall, Initiative B (1976)
- Utah Election of Appointed Lieutenant Governor, Amendment B (2014)
- Utah Eliminate Felons' Right to Vote, Proposition 4 (1998)
- Utah Legislative Eligibility, Proposition 1 (1998)
- Utah Legislator Eligibility, Amendment B (2010)
- Utah Top-Five Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative (2022)
Election policy legislation
The following is a list of recent election bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Utah state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.
Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Utah voting. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
Elections in Utah
- Utah elections, 2022
- Utah elections, 2021
- Utah elections, 2020
- Utah elections, 2019
- Utah elections, 2018
- Utah elections, 2017
- Utah elections, 2016
- Utah elections, 2015
- Utah elections, 2014
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We use the term "absentee/mail-in voting" to describe systems in which requests or applications are required. We use the term "all-mail voting" to denote systems where the ballots themselves are sent automatically to all voters. We use the hyphenate term for absentee voting because some states use “mail voting” (or a similar alternative) to describe what has traditionally been called "absentee voting."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Utah Lieutenant Governor: Elections, “State of Utah Voter Registration Form,” accessed October 8, 2019
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, “Section 101.5 Age requirements for primary elections -- 17-year-olds may vote,” accessed October 8, 2019
- ↑ Vote.Utah.gov, “Learn how to register to vote,” accessed October 8, 2019
- ↑ Utah Lieutenant Governor, “Welcome to the Utah Voter Registration Website,” accessed October 8, 2019
- ↑ Vote.Utah.gov, "State of Utah Voter Registration Form," accessed July 16, 2020
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, “Section 207 Registration by provisional ballot,” accessed October 8, 2019
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, "Utah §20A-3-104," accessed October 7, 2019
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, "Utah §20A-1-102(83)," accessed October 7, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Voter Identification Requirements|Voter ID Laws," June 5, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Do I need an ID to vote? A look at the laws in all 50 states," October 27, 2014
- ↑ Salt Lake County Clerk, “Election Day Vote Centers,” accessed October 17, 2019
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Voter Registration: Utah," accessed January 3, 2014
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Absentee and Early Voting," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ Vote.Utah.gov, "Absentee Voting Information," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ Long Distance Voter, "Utah Absentee Ballot Guide," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Laws Governing Early Voting," August 2, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Felon Voting Rights," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ American Civil Liberties Union, "State Criminal Re-enfranchisement Laws," accessed September 13, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections," February 14, 2018
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, "Do you want to register to vote? Utah enacts widespread election law changes, including Election-Day registration. Here are all the changes," March 8, 2018
- ↑ Utah State Legislature, "H.B. 218 Modifications to Election Law," accessed March 15, 2018
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