Effort to send new Utah flag to statewide referendum fails, state says

Image showing the new Utah state flag, which was approved by the Utah House and Senate on March 2, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement, St. George News

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that creates a new Utah state flag won’t go to a future election.

Image showing the new Utah state flag, which was approved by the Utah House and Senate on March 2, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement, St. George News

The Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office confirmed to KSL.com on Thursday that a referendum measure on SB31 received 21,030 validated signatures and 28,449 more signatures to be reviewed by 5 p.m. Wednesday, well shy of the 134,298 signatures from registered voters needed to send any bill to a future ballot. Another 2,117 signatures were rejected.

While Wednesday was the deadline for signatures, county clerks had until noon Thursday to report all signatures they had received. Had the measure received enough signatures, there would be a three-week process to authenticate the numbers of registered voters and other requirements were met, such as a certain percentage of voters from different counties.

A group of residents called Referendum to Save Utah’s Flag filed the paperwork to hold a referendum on SB31 in March, days after the Utah Legislature narrowly passed the bill. If it was successful, voters would have decided the fate of SB31, which designates a new state flag and designates the current flag as the state’s “historical flag.”

Read the full story here:  KSL News.

Written by CARTER WILLIAMS, KSL.com.


Check out all of St. George News’ coverage of the 2022 Utah Legislature here.

Copyright KSL.com.

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