The Utah Legislature has been in session for almost two weeks and one group said there have been more than 10 pieces of legislation introduced they called “anti-democracy” bills.
TJ Ellerbeck, executive director of the Rural Utah Project, said the bills would put “major limits on the way Utahns can vote, when Utahns can vote and which Utahns can vote.”
“The worst of those is one bill that would eliminate voting by mail in Utah, and Utah has been an all vote-by-mail state for the last eight years,” Ellerbeck explained. “Some parts of the state have been all vote-by-mail for 10 years and over 90% of Utahns vote by mail.”
Ellerbeck referred to HB 92, sponsored by Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan. If passed, the bill would require voters who want to vote by mail to sign up. Currently, county clerks send mail-in ballots to Utahns automatically. Birkeland argued the bill would help clean up voter rolls and increase active voter participation.
Ellerbeck contended Utah is one of the “most forward-thinking states when it comes to voting access,” and wants the Beehive State to remain that way. Ellerbeck noted he is confident the state Legislature will protect Utahns from anti-democracy proposals but added even if the bills are not enacted, there are still consequences.
“Having proposals like that come out also make other proposals that impose serious limits on voting access seem much less egregious and might make those proposals much more likely to pass,” Ellerbeck said.
Ellerbeck encouraged voters to think about whether their respective representative voted for or against the measures.
HB 214 is another proposal to mandate mail-in ballots arrive at the clerk’s office by Election Day. Currently, they must simply be postmarked by Election Day. Proponents argue it would help mitigate frustration on election night and speed up the ballot counting process.
The Rural Utah Project is gathering signatures for a petition to keep the state’s current election system in place because Ellerbeck believes it works.
“Last legislative session we saw some of those proposals pass all over the country, but nothing like that passed in Utah,” Ellerbeck said. “When it comes to voting access we’ve always been at the leading edge. We’ve been a place where it’s always been easy and safe to vote.”
Written by Alex Gonzalez, producer for Utah News Connection.
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