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House passes bill to let lieutenant governor and clerks adjust voting during declared emergencies
Summary
HB 82 authorizes the lieutenant governor, in coordination with local election officials, to change voting times, locations or methods during declared emergencies to preserve voter access; sponsors cited Hurricane Sandy and local evacuations as rationale.
The House approved House Bill 82 to give the lieutenant governor and local election officials authority to designate alternate methods, times or locations for early voting and election-day operations during an officially declared emergency.
"What this bill does is it authorized lieutenant governor working in concert with local elections officials to designate a different method, time, or location related to voting, early voting, or canvassing during election during a declared emergency," Representative Chavez Houck told colleagues, citing disruptions during Hurricane Sandy and Utah wildfire evacuations as examples.
Representative Cox described a personal experience of being evacuated on primary-election day and said the measure would prevent situations where whole communities are unable to vote because polling places must be evacuated.
Supporters said the bill is companion legislation to Senate Bill 25 (military and overseas balloting) and had unanimous committee support from the House Government Operations Committee and backing from the lieutenant governor's office and clerks' legislative policy committee. Lawmakers voted 70-0 to pass HB 82. The bill will be transmitted to the Senate.
