Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 155 Second Substitute (2023GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Lyman, P.

Final action

House/ filed 3/3/2023

Outcome

Failed / filed without passage

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• requires the lieutenant governor to contract with an independent auditor to conduct a voter registration audit, a post-election audit, and an election statistics audit;
• describes audit procedures and requirements;
• provides for access by the independent auditor to, and for the protection of, records needed for the independent audits; and
• requires public audit reports.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

INDEPENDENT ELECTION AUDITS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Phil Lyman
Senate Sponsor: 
____________
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill requires independent audits relating to elections.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ requires the lieutenant governor to contract with an independent auditor to conduct
a voter registration audit, a post-election audit, and an election statistics audit;
▸ describes audit procedures and requirements;
▸ provides for access by the independent auditor to, and for the protection of, records
needed for the independent audits; and
▸ requires public audit reports.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
ENACTS:
20A-4-407
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
20A-4-408
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
20A-4-409
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
20A-4-410
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
20A-4-407
 is enacted to read:
 20A-4-407.
Independent election auditor -- Requirements -- Publication of audit
results.
(1) The lieutenant governor shall, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah
Procurement Code, contract with an independent auditor to conduct the following election
audits:
(a) the independent voter registration audit described in Section 
20A-4-408
;
(b) the independent post-election audit described in Section 
20A-4-409
; and
(c) the independent election statistics audit described in Section 
20A-4-410
.
(2) The lieutenant governor and the county clerks shall give the independent auditor
full access to the list of registered voters and all other information necessary to conduct the
audits described in Subsection (1).
(3) The lieutenant governor shall:
(a) establish protocols and requirements to ensure the protection and integrity of
information and records provided to the independent auditor by the lieutenant governor or a
county clerk; and
(b) ensure, via the contract with the independent auditor, that the independent auditor
complies with the protocols and requirements described in Subsection (3)(a).
(4) The independent auditor shall, within 30 days after the day on which the
independent auditor completes an audit described in Subsection (1):
(a) complete an audit report identifying the results of the audit in a manner that does
not disclose identifying information of a voter; and
(b) provide a copy of the audit report to the lieutenant governor and the Government
Operations Interim Committee.
(5) Upon receipt of an audit report described in Subsection (4), the lieutenant governor
shall post the audit report on the lieutenant governor's website for at least one year.
(6) The independent auditor shall make an oral report on the audit to the Government
Operations Interim Committee upon request by the committee or the committee chairs.
Section 2. Section 
20A-4-408
 is enacted to read:
 20A-4-408.
Independent voter registration audit.
(1) The independent auditor described in Section 
20A-4-407
 shall, on an annual basis,
conduct an independent voter registration audit in accordance with the procedures described in
Section 
20A-5-901
.
(2) The independent audit described in this section is in addition to, and separate from,
the audit conducted by the lieutenant governor under Section 
20A-5-901
.
Section 3. Section 
20A-4-409
 is enacted to read:
 20A-4-409.
Independent post-election audit.
(1) The independent auditor described in Section 
20A-4-407
 shall, following the
regular general election, conduct a post-election audit of the accuracy of electronic vote
tabulators in the state.
(2) Except as provided in Subsection (3), the independent auditor shall, conduct the
audit for races conducted for:
(a) each federal office;
(b) governor; and
(c) of the following offices, the race where the winning candidate won by the smallest
percentage margin:
(i) attorney general;
(ii) state auditor; or
(iii) state treasurer.
(3) The independent auditor shall exclude from the audit a race for which:
(a) a recount is conducted for a reason other than as a result of the audit described in
this section; or
(b) the margin between the top two candidates is greater than 15%.
(4) No later than 10 days after the day of the regular general election, the independent
auditor shall:
(a) for each race audited, publicly select a random sample of precincts, from among all
precincts in the race, sufficient in number to ensure by at least a 90% probability that faulty
tabulators would be detected if they would change the outcome of the race;
(b) select precincts for the audits in the following manner:
(i) select precincts for audits of statewide races starting with the statewide race with the
largest winning margin and ending with the statewide race with the smallest winning margin;
(ii) if any precincts previously selected for the audit of a race can be used for the audit
of a race for which precincts are subsequently selected, use the previously selected precincts for
the subsequent race before randomly selecting the necessary number of additional precincts for
that subsequent race; and
(iii) to the extent possible, use the precincts selected under Subsections (4)(b)(i) and
(ii) for audits of United States House of Representatives races before randomly selecting the
necessary number of additional precincts for those races; and
(c) notify the clerks for the precincts selected under Subsection (4)(b).
(5) The clerks described in Subsection (4)(c) shall:
(a) conduct a hand recount of the votes cast for the race in each precinct selected under
Subsection (4)(b);
(b) compare the tally of the hand recount of each precinct with the electronic tabulation
for the precinct; and
(c) report to the independent auditor the results of the recount described in Subsection
(5)(a) and the comparison described in Subsection (5)(b).
(6) The independent auditor shall determine the error rate in the sample for each race.
(7) If, based on the hand recounts described in Subsection (5), the winning margin
decreases and the error rate, based on the difference between the vote totals for the hand
recounts and the original electronic vote totals, exceeds 90% of the winning margin for the
race:
(a) the independent auditor shall randomly select a sample of precincts equal in size to
the previously selected sample; and
(b) the county clerks for those precincts shall:
(i) conduct a hand recount of the votes cast for the race in each precinct selected under
Subsection (7)(a);
(ii) compare the tally of the hand recount of each precinct with the electronic tabulation
for the precinct; and
(iii) report to the independent auditor the results of the recount described in Subsection
(7)(b)(i) and the comparison described in Subsection (7)(b)(ii).
(8) If, based on the hand recounts described in Subsection (7), the winning margin of
the original electronic tabulation decreases and the error rate, based on the difference between
the vote totals for the hand recounts and the original electronic vote totals, exceeds 90% of the
winning margin for the race, the county clerks for the precincts that participated in the race
shall conduct a hand recount of all votes in that race.
(9) Poll watchers may observe an audit or hand recount described in this section.
Section 4. Section 
20A-4-410
 is enacted to read:
 20A-4-410.
Independent election statistics audit.
The independent auditor described in Section 
20A-4-407
 shall, for each regular general
election:
(1) following the state canvass, conduct an audit to determine the accuracy of the
statistics posted by the lieutenant governor under Subsection 
20A-3a-405
(3)(c) ; and
(2) randomly select three counties and, following the canvass by each of those
counties, conduct an audit to determine the accuracy of the statistics posted by those counties'
election officers under Subsection 
20A-3a-405
(3)(c).