Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 214 (2024GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Thurston, N.  (Thurston’s own bill)

Final action

House/ filed 3/1/2024

Outcome

Failed / filed without passage

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• provides that, for a ballot that is mailed to be valid, the election officer must receive the ballot before the polls close on election day; and
• makes conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

This document includes House Committee Amendments incorporated into the bill on Tue, Feb 27, 2024 at 6:37 PM by housengrossing.
ELECTION MODIFICATIONS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Norman K Thurston
Senate Sponsor: 
____________
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses mailed ballots.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ provides that, for a ballot that is mailed to be valid, the election officer must receive
the ballot before the polls close on election day; and
▸ makes conforming changes. 
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
Ĥ→ [
None
] 
 This bill provides a special effective date.
 ←Ĥ
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
20A-3a-204
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapter 156
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
20A-3a-204
 is amended to read:
20A-3a-204.
Marking and depositing ballots.
(1) To vote by mail:
(a) except as provided in Subsection (6), the voter shall prepare the voter's manual
ballot by marking the appropriate space with a mark opposite the name of each candidate of the
voter's choice for each office to be filled;
(b) if a ballot proposition is submitted to a vote of the people, the voter shall mark the
appropriate space with a mark opposite the answer the voter intends to make;
(c) except as provided in Subsection (6), the voter shall record a write-in vote in
accordance with Subsection 
20A-3a-206
(1);
(d) except as provided in Subsection (6), a mark is not required opposite the name of a
write-in candidate; and
(e) the voter shall:
(i) complete and sign the affidavit on the return envelope;
(ii) place the voted ballot in the return envelope;
(iii) if required, place a copy of the voter's valid voter identification in the return
envelope;
(iv) securely seal the return envelope; and
(v) (A) attach postage, if necessary, and deposit the return envelope in the mail; or
(B) place the return envelope in a ballot drop box, designated by the election officer,
for the precinct where the voter resides.
(2) (a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 
20A-16-404
, [
to be
] 
for a ballot that is
mailed to be
 valid, [
a ballot that is mailed must be:
] 
the election officer must receive the ballot
in the office of the election officer before the polls close on election day.
[
(i) clearly postmarked before election day, or otherwise clearly marked by the post
office as received by the post office before election day; and
]
[
(ii) received in the office of the election officer before noon on the day of the official
canvass following the election.
]
(b) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(c), to be valid, a ballot shall, before the polls
close on election day, be deposited in:
(i) a ballot box at a polling place; or
(ii) a ballot drop box designated by an election officer for the jurisdiction to which the
ballot relates.
(c) An election officer may, but is not required to, forward a ballot deposited in a ballot
drop box in the wrong jurisdiction to the correct jurisdiction.
(d) An election officer shall ensure that a voter who is, at or before 8 p.m., in line at a
ballot drop box, with a sealed return envelope containing a ballot in the voter's possession, to
deposit the ballot in the ballot drop box.
(3) Except as provided in Subsection (4), to vote at a polling place the voter shall, after
complying with Subsections (1)(a) through (d):
(a) sign the official register or pollbook; and
(b) (i) place the ballot in the ballot box; or
(ii) if the ballot is a provisional ballot, place the ballot in the provisional ballot
envelope, complete the information printed on the provisional ballot envelope, and deposit the
provisional ballot envelope in the provisional ballot box.
(4) (a) An individual with a disability may vote a mechanical ballot at a polling place.
(b) An individual other than an individual with a disability may vote a mechanical
ballot at a polling place if permitted by the election officer.
(5) To vote a mechanical ballot, the voter shall:
(a) make the selections according to the instructions provided for the voting device;
and
(b) subject to Subsection (6), record a write-in vote by:
(i) selecting the appropriate position for entering a write-in candidate; and
(ii) using the voting device to enter the name of the valid write-in candidate for whom
the voter wishes to vote.
(6) To vote in an instant runoff voting race under Title 20A, Chapter 4, Part 6,
Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project, a voter:
(a) shall indicate, as directed on the ballot, the name of the candidate who is the voter's
first preference for the office; and
(b) may indicate, as directed on the ballot, the names of the remaining candidates in
order of the voter's preference.
(7) A voter who votes at a polling place:
(a) shall mark and cast or deposit the ballot without delay and shall leave the voting
area after voting; and
(b) may not:
(i) occupy a voting booth occupied by another, except as provided in Section
20A-3a-208
;
(ii) remain within the voting area more than 10 minutes; or
(iii) occupy a voting booth for more than five minutes if all booths are in use and other
voters are waiting to occupy a voting booth.
(8) If the official register shows any voter as having voted, that voter may not reenter
the voting area during that election unless that voter is an election official or watcher.
(9) A poll worker may not, at a polling place, allow more than four voters more than
the number of voting booths into the voting area at one time unless those excess voters are:
(a) election officials;
(b) watchers; or
(c) assisting voters with a disability.
Section 2. 
Effective date.
This bill takes effect on
Ĥ→ [
May 1, 2024.
] 
 January 1, 2025.
 ←Ĥ