Committee debates signature-posting, county verification changes after 2024 petitions

The Government Operations Interim Committee on Aug. 20 reviewed two draft bills aimed at changing how candidate petition signatures are verified and published.

Why it matters: The proposals respond to problems seen in the 2024 petition cycle, when centralized verification and opaque public notice prompted complaints and litigation. Supporters say the changes will increase transparency and trust; county clerks say the bills raise privacy and operational concerns.

What the bills would do: The first draft ("signature verification revisions") would require the election officer to post the name, voter precinct and date of signature of each signer of a candidate-nomination petition on the Lieutenant Governor's website from the day after verification through at least 90 days after the election. The bill would also require an email notice to voters with an email address on record informing them their name was posted and that they have a deadline to request removal. The bill would also move the deadline for candidates seeking party nomination to submit signatures from 14 days before the party convention to 21 days, to allow time for removal requests.

The second draft ("candidate petition amendments") would require candidates whose districts cross counties, or candidates for statewide or federal office, to submit signature packets to each county clerk corresponding to the signers' county of residence rather than a single clerk handling statewide verification. That change would require separate booklets per county and routing to multiple clerks.

Public testimony and clerk concerns: Witnesses included Melanie Monastair and Robert Jackson of the Utah Republican Party (supporting both bills), Chris Noll (former Salt Lake County GOP chair), Marilyn Momoney and others in favor of increased transparency, and Lanny Chapman, Salt Lake County Clerk, who opposed aspects of the transparency bill and the decentralization proposal.

Chapman told the committee the transparency bill risks exposing voters in protected categories (private/withheld registrations, Safe at Home) because precinct and date can narrow a signer's location. Chapman also said Utah counties currently lack an automated tool to send the required emails and warned of a significant administrative burden and inconsistent results if verification is split across many counties; she estimated 2024 statewide verification costs at roughly $120,000 and said decentralization would shift workload (and cost) to counties.

Sponsors and party leaders countered: Representative Lisa Shepherd and Utah Republican Party leaders said posting and emailed notice would solve confusion about whether voters had signed and enable timely removal requests. Rep. Shepherd argued the change would increase public confidence and that the clerk-level workload could be managed; county clerks asked that any statutory change include funding and resources.

Committee action: The committee voted on the two draft measures separately. The transparency draft (signature verification revisions) was put to a motion to favorably recommend but did not pass the committee vote; Representative Shepherd will continue to work with clerks and stakeholders. The candidate-petition amendments (requiring submission to signers' county clerk) was favorably recommended by the committee and will move forward as a committee bill.

Next steps: Sponsors and clerks agreed to continue working on technical fixes such as automated email tooling, options to limit publicly posted detail (name only versus precinct and date), and resource needs for county clerks prior to session.