All Roll Calls
Yes: 160 • No: 36
UtahS.B. 1532026 General SessionSenateWALLET
Election Amendments
Sponsored By: John D. Johnson (Republican)
Signed by Governor
Election LawInitiativesVoting and Voter RegistrationCrimesGovernment Operations (State Issues)Election AdministrationLieutenant GovernorReferenda
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
24 provisions identified: 15 benefits, 4 costs, 5 mixed.
More voters can shield their records
Beginning April 6, 2026, voters can protect their records if they or a housemate meet a listed safety condition. Covered groups include domestic- or dating-violence victims, threatened victims, police officers, military members, public figures, and people protected by court orders. Clerks must approve requests with required proof; violence-based requests need a sworn statement. Officials cannot urge or discourage applications, and disclosure requires express legal permission. In 2030 and every five years afterward, clerks must mail reviews before July 15 to voters protected for at least one year. Reviews include the protection grounds and a prepaid return envelope; clerks remove protection when voters reply that they no longer qualify.
Voters get rejected-ballot notices and fixes
Beginning April 6, 2026, election officers must contact voters about fixable return-envelope or signature problems and explain the fix. Officers must provide or arrange access to a county-clerk affidavit. To have the ballot counted, voters must deliver the required signed affidavit by noon on the last business day before canvassing begins. It must confirm that the voter voted the ballot and include required identifying information. Rejection notices and reasons are generally due within two business days, unless fixed within one business day or unfixable. For unfixable rejections, notice is due by the later of 30 days after rejection or 30 days after the election. Notices can come by phone, mail, email, or consented text. Provisional ballot envelopes also offer optional ballot updates and official messages by text when voters provide a number and consent.
Returned ballots face phased verification rules
Beginning April 6, 2026, poll workers can accept returned ballots only after checking the affidavit, registration, duplicate voting, and voting-right challenges. Before January 1, 2029, envelopes need the last four digits of a Utah driver license, state identification card, or Social Security number, or an allowed signature check. The law includes an alternative for voters claiming a qualifying disability. For elections on or after January 1, 2029, voters must provide those digits, a copy of specified identification, or the law's alternative verification.
Voter records become public unless protected
Beginning April 6, 2026, standard information for public registered voters is public, subject to voter-data limits. The lieutenant governor must notify voters with private or withheld records about the change and how to seek at-risk protection. Clerks must process qualifying applications received by May 6 by May 21, and transfer specified earlier protections by May 24. Beginning May 25, 2026, other current voters become public unless they obtain at-risk status; protected records remain private. Preregistered voters' records also become public at age 18, with exceptions for protected records.
Accessible petition signing for disabled voters
Beginning May 25, 2026, registered Utah voters with qualifying disabilities have an alternative way to sign manual initiative petitions. They can direct a signature gatherer to write “AV” as their signature. The gatherer must attest to the required facts about consent, capacity, understanding, and the gatherer's conduct.
Another way to fix rejected ballots
Beginning April 6, 2026, election officers can count certain rejected ballots after contacting the voter and verifying identity. They must compare at least two types of personal information with election records and document the check. Contact, verification, and documentation must finish by noon on the last business day before the official vote review begins. Officers must retain verification records and record rejections and resolutions in the database within one business day. The final vote report must show ballot outcomes and specified rejection counts.
Certain voter records stay private
The law makes registration records private for federal-ballot-only voters before January 1, 2027. It also protects specified withholding requests, at-risk designation forms and proof, privacy notices, and related request forms. These changes take effect May 6, 2026. The effective date moves to April 6, 2026, if both S.B. 153 and H.B. 209 receive two-thirds approval in each house.
Petition signers get clear privacy warnings
Beginning May 25, 2026, covered petitions must warn that signers’ voter ID numbers and signing dates may become public. This includes at-risk voters whose registration records are private; the warnings do not change disclosure rules. Covered petitions include municipal and county changes, special-district withdrawal or dissolution, building-authority bond elections, and school-district creation or consolidation. They also include referendums, political-party registration or qualification, municipal and unaffiliated candidate nominations, and ratification-convention delegate nominations. Required placement varies: first pages for covered local and municipal-party petitions, signature sheets for unaffiliated candidates, and paper forms and electronic signing screens for referendums. Specified first-page warnings must use type at least as large as most other statements; statewide party warnings go directly below the existing warning.
Stronger privacy for threatened public workers
Threatened elected officials, appointees filling elected vacancies, and government employees count as public figures for related protections. For government employees, the threat to a person or property must relate to their government job. Beginning April 6, 2026, agencies can release private records of at-risk government employees only with written consent, a court order, or a certified death certificate. The law removes a separate release option for a qualified requester.
Stronger safeguards against voter data misuse
Beginning April 6, 2026, officials requesting voter records for official work must sign a request explaining their identity, legal duty, and need. Election officials must deny unsupported requests and disclose only necessary information; recipients must secure it and limit its use. Voter-list users may obtain and use information only for political or other expressly allowed purposes. False pretenses, unauthorized use, and unlawful public sharing are class A misdemeanors, with exceptions for specified election work, court orders, and election-law enforcement. Government officers can also use lawful public-access channels, but their election-record use must relate to official duties, not mainly personal purposes.
Voters choose mailed ballots and texts
Utah must provide a public online way to request mailed ballots no later than July 1, 2025. Beginning April 6, 2026, registration forms, driver license and state identification applications, and the online system must ask about voting preferences. Voters can indicate that they want a mailed ballot or plan to vote in person. Registration forms must also ask applicants providing a phone number whether they consent to ballot-status and other official texts. Consent does not require election officers to send messages.
Voters control sharing with political parties
Beginning January 1, 2027, voter registration forms and provisional ballot envelopes must ask about sharing contact details. Providing an email address or phone number is optional. Election officers may share those details with the voter’s affiliated political party only with the voter’s consent.
Voters get clearer privacy and consent
Beginning April 6, 2026, registration notices and provisional ballot envelopes explain public information and how eligible voters request at-risk protection. Notices identify names, addresses, and age ranges as public for public voters, while phone and email sharing with their party requires consent. Birth dates, at-risk registration records, and specified privacy forms, proof, and notices are private. Beginning January 1, 2027, address-change forms must offer separate, optional choices to share email and phone information with the voter's party. Only contact information covered by consent can be shared.
Candidate signatures get added checks
After a candidate meets the signature threshold, election officers must keep reviewing submitted signatures. They stop after certifying 110% of the threshold or reviewing every submitted signature. For electronic candidate qualification, officers must check that each signature verifier is at least 18. They must report younger verifiers to the Utah attorney general and county attorney. The deadline is the earlier of 14 calendar days after receipt or one day before the party convention. The lieutenant governor must also post received notices of intent to gather candidate signatures online, alongside declarations of candidacy.
Election signature checks face public audits
Election officers must audit 1% of covered signature comparisons for accuracy. Auditors cannot review their own work. Officers must record the auditors and results, plus any needed training or staff reassignment. Audit results are public records.
Longer advance notice for ballot measures
Until January 1, 2027, the lieutenant governor must publish full legislative ballot-measure text starting 14 to 60 calendar days before the election and continuing through Election Day. Beginning January 1, 2027, publication must cover the 60 calendar days immediately before the next general election. The new schedule covers the entire proposed constitutional amendment or another question the Legislature sends to voters.
Voter rolls get timed accuracy checks
The lieutenant governor must share received Social Security death data with county clerks. Clerks must remove deceased voters within five business days after receiving specified death information or confirmation. Clerks must review voter rolls no later than 90 calendar days before each primary and general election; the lieutenant governor must compare death records. A coordinated provision dated May 6, 2026, applies only when both S.B. 153 and H.B. 361 are law. It also bars removals during the 90 days before regular primary or general elections, except for deaths or voters' written requests.
2026 congressional hopefuls need 7,000 signatures
For 2026, candidates seeking a qualified party's U.S. House nomination through signatures must file a notice during the specified filing period. Collection runs from the notice's filing date until 5 p.m. on March 13, 2026. Candidates must collect 7,000 signatures from registered Utah voters allowed to vote in that party's primary. This special rule expires December 31, 2026.
Candidate signature efforts trigger finance reporting
People filing a notice of intent to gather candidacy signatures must follow candidate campaign-finance reporting rules. The duties begin on the notice's filing date. The same enforcement rules and civil and criminal penalties apply.
Standard filing rules for municipal candidates
Beginning May 25, 2026, standard municipal filing and nomination rules apply regardless of the nomination method, including alternate-voting pilot municipalities. Candidates generally must file during the legal filing period, with an exception allowing an agent to file. Resident nomination petitions need signatures from the lesser of 25 registered municipal voters or 20% of those voters. Municipal primary rules also apply across municipalities, but no primary is held when candidates do not exceed twice the open positions. These primary rules exclude the specified local school board elections.
Voter list updates temporarily unavailable
From March 9 through May 25, 2026, voter-list requesters cannot receive updated lists or updated list information. They receive only the portion they could access on March 8, using the list as it existed that day.
Petition signers face limited public disclosure
Beginning May 25, 2026, petition postings show voter identification numbers and signing dates, but not names, within two business days after certification. Referendum information must remain posted for at least 45 calendar days. A timely removal request prevents posting and removes the signature from the petition and totals. Initiative materials must warn that identification numbers and signing dates can become public even for at-risk voters. For at-risk signers, disclosure is limited to petition-related matters; their registration records otherwise remain private.
Faster election reports with privacy limits
Beginning April 6, 2026, clerks must keep permanent alphabetical registration files, current voter lists, and each voter's public or at-risk status. The county list controls when it conflicts with the state's electronic list. Mailed-ballot and voted reports are available by subscription from bulk ballot mailing through office closing the day before Election Day. On request, election officers must make required information available within one business day after receiving it, subject to disclosure limits. Access fees follow existing law, and responses to the specified campaign-finance information request cannot include at-risk voter information.
Voter lookup shows limited public information
Beginning January 1, 2027, Utah’s statewide voter website must offer a lookup using a voter ID number. The result shows only the voter’s current political party and the last date their registration was updated.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
John D. Johnson
Republican • Senate
Cosponsors
Lee, Trevor
Affiliation unavailable
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 3/4/2026
Senate/ concurs with House amendment
Yes: 19 • No: 5
Senate vote • 3/4/2026
Senate/ motion to reconsider
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 3/4/2026
Senate/ concurs with House amendment
Yes: 22 • No: 7
House vote • 3/4/2026
House/ substituted
Yes: 0 • No: 0
House vote • 3/4/2026
House/ passed 3rd reading
Yes: 56 • No: 12
House vote • 2/27/2026
House Comm - Substitute Recommendation
Yes: 8 • No: 0
House vote • 2/27/2026
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation
Yes: 5 • No: 3
Senate vote • 2/24/2026
Senate/ passed 3rd reading
Yes: 24 • No: 4
Senate vote • 2/23/2026
Senate/ passed 2nd reading
Yes: 22 • No: 3
Senate vote • 2/23/2026
Senate/ uncircled
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 2/23/2026
Senate/ substituted
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 2/6/2026
Senate/ circled
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 1/23/2026
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation
Yes: 4 • No: 2
Actions Timeline
Governor Signed
3/18/2026Senate/ to Governor
3/13/2026SenateSenate/ received enrolled bill from Printing
3/13/2026SenateSenate/ enrolled bill to Printing
3/12/2026SenateEnrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate
3/12/2026Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
3/10/2026Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling
3/10/2026Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling
3/10/2026SenateSenate/ received from House
3/10/2026SenateHouse/ to Senate
3/5/2026HouseHouse/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate
3/5/2026HouseHouse/ received from Senate
3/5/2026HouseSenate/ to House
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ concurs with House amendment
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ placed on Concurrence Calendar
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ motion to reconsider
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ to House
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ concurs with House amendment
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ placed on Concurrence Calendar
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ received from House
3/4/2026SenateHouse/ to Senate
3/4/2026HouseHouse/ passed 3rd reading
3/4/2026HouseHouse/ substituted
3/4/2026HouseHouse/ 3rd reading
3/4/2026HouseHouse/ 2nd reading
3/3/2026House
Bill Text
Enrolled
3/12/2026
Substitute #4
3/2/2026
Substitute #2
2/20/2026
Substitute #1
2/14/2026
Substitute #3
2/14/2026
Introduced
1/19/2026