House committee advances constitutional amendment to restore elected Secretary of State; companion statute also cleared

The Utah House Government Operations Committee on a committee vote advanced a constitutional amendment to restore an independently elected Secretary of State and approved a companion statute to transfer election duties to that office.

Representative Shepherd, the sponsor, told the committee she filed the proposal to amend the Utah Constitution (HJR25) to remove election oversight from the lieutenant governor and place it with a Secretary of State directly elected by voters. Shepherd said the change would be placed on the November 2026 ballot, with the Secretary of State elected in 2028 and assuming duties in 2029 under the proposal. "There’s a structural problem and inherent conflict of interest when we have elections and those duties underneath the top executive," Shepherd said.

Why it matters: The measures are framed as a structural fix to bolster public confidence in elections and to allow a specialized, directly accountable official to oversee election administration. Shepherd argued a separately elected official could focus on elections while freeing the lieutenant governor to perform other executive duties.

What the bills would…