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Committee removes fee in proposed write‑in vote changes, defers bubble rule
Summary
The Government Operations committee struck a provision that would have allowed election officers to charge a fee to count write‑in votes and deferred action on a proposal that would require both writing a name and filling an adjacent bubble on the ballot.
Chair opened discussion on a committee bill that would change how Utah treats write‑in votes for joint tickets and other offices. Michael Cipriano summarized the draft changes, saying the bill would reduce the write‑in name space for joint tickets from two lines to one, require a voter who casts a write‑in to also fill the bubble opposite the write‑in space, modify when election officers must count individual write‑in votes, and move the declaration of candidacy deadline from 65 to 75 days before an election.
Public comment expressed opposition to two provisions. Marilyn Mominey said charging a fee ‘‘is frankly, in my opinion, beyond the pale’’ and argued requiring both a written name and a filled bubble places a special burden on voters who choose write‑in candidates. Mary Anne Christiansen of Utah Legislative Watch also opposed charging a fee, saying a registered write‑in candidate should have their votes counted like any other candidate.
County clerks and the lieutenant governor’s elections staff explained the operational tradeoffs. Cambria Cantrell, elections coordinator in the lieutenant governor’s office, told the committee that tabulation machines are programmed to scan zones and that requiring a filled bubble reduces manual adjudication when ballots are damaged or folded. Davis County Clerk Bridal McKenzie and Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson said they could not offer exact counts of ballots that might be affected but agreed that most voters who intentionally write in a candidate also fill the oval; they said the current statute counts write‑in names when voter intent is discernible.
Representative Mike Peterson moved to strike the language authorizing a fee and the committee approved that motion to remove the fee provisions. Committee members debated the bubble requirement and questions about disenfranchisement and machine adjudication. Rather than decide the bubble issue at the interim meeting, the committee agreed to move the bill to further work before general session so members and county clerks can resolve operational and policy concerns.
Next steps: the fee language was removed from the draft; the committee deferred final action on the bubble requirement and signaled it will revisit the write‑in provisions during the upcoming session.
