Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Election Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House approves change to provisional-ballot counting for 'up‑ticket' races after debate on privacy, technology
Summary
First substitute House Bill 378 will allow counties to count eligible "up‑ticket" races from a provisional ballot cast at the wrong precinct while excluding the local race for which the voter was ineligible; bill passed 43–30 after members raised concerns about county technology, voter privacy and secret-ballot protections.
The Utah House approved first substitute House Bill 378 on March 11, which changes how provisional ballots cast at the wrong precinct are processed. Sponsor Representative Hall described the bill as an "up-ticket" fix so that when a voter casts a provisional ballot in the wrong precinct those votes the voter was eligible to cast — such as president or governor — would still be counted while the incorrect local race would be excluded.
Representative Hall said clerks had identified a technological approach and that the bill carries a modest statewide fiscal note of roughly $5,500. "So the what this bill does is, for the 11 races where that individual was indeed eligible... they should count those 11 and not count the 1 for state representative," Hall said.
Opponents, including Representative Moss and Representative Nielsen, raised operational and privacy concerns. Moss said some counties (Davis County cited) would need to revert to paper provisional ballots or duplicate ballots, increasing staff and printing costs that were not reflected in the fiscal note. Nielsen said county clerks had told her election offices would have to review the content of provisional ballots to separate which races should be counted and which should not, raising questions about the constitutional right to a secret ballot.
Hall said the bill is limited to counting across districts within the same county (not across counties) to bound logistical complexity; he reiterated that county clerks already determine whether a provisional ballot is the correct provisional ballot and would extract which races should count without examining voter choices. After debate and speaker questions, the bill passed 43 yes to 30 no and will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.
The bill sponsor, members and county clerks signaled remaining concerns about implementation, voter privacy and potential administrative costs; counties will be responsible for operational steps to validate and count eligible races under the statute.
