Election workers process ballots at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
At the onset of the 2025 Utah Legislature, lawmakers listed changes to Utah’s election system as a top priority — but a major bill meant to drastically restrict voting by mail, HB300, has been stuck in the House for 10 days.
That’s because legislative leaders in the House and Senate have been locked in on negotiations on the bill — and changes are likely.
House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, backed the original version of HB300, sponsored by Rep. Jefferson Burton, R-Provo, but he told reporters Thursday that House lawmakers will probably need to give up some provisions in the bill in order for it to survive the Senate.
“You know, when you realize it isn’t going to pass the Senate, it’s time to sit down and figure out a pathway forward that helps make our elections more secure,” Schultz said.
Utah bill to limit voting by mail, require voter ID backed by House speaker
He added that even though some House lawmakers thought they had the “perfect idea,” others may not agree.
The current version of HB300 that’s waiting to be considered in the House chamber would still allow Utah voters to receive their ballots in the mail — but unless they receive permission, they won’t be able to mail them back to their county clerks.
It would scale back Utah’s current universal voting by mail system by requiring most voters to drop off their ballots in-person at a polling place or at a drop box manned by at least two poll workers — and show a valid form of identification, like a driver license, to submit their ballot.
However, Republican Senate lawmakers haven’t gotten fully on board with all of HB300’s provisions, wary that it could make voting by mail too difficult for Utahns. Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, told reporters Friday he’s been negotiating with Burton, and “I think we’re making really good progress.”
“It’s been a priority in the negotiations to preserve vote by mail,” McKell said, repeating a phrase he’s been saying most of the legislative session. “Our principle right from the start was to make voting as easy as possible without cheating.”
Schultz said House lawmakers are in talks with county clerks and the Senate to make changes to the bill. It’s not yet clear exactly what those changes will be.
“We’re not ready to discuss what those details are yet because I would not say we’ve landed on anything, but we’re happy that we’re at least having the conversations,” Schultz said.
Utah lawmakers advance bills to limit voting by mail, leave voter roll group ERIC
It’s possible, however, that the House will consider a potentially new version of HB300 as soon as next week.
“We will probably take action on it first of next week sometime, but we’ll see what happens,” Schultz said. “We’ve got some discussions and some things that still need to happen.”
It’s not yet clear how lawmakers will revise HB300, but McKell and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, have floated a proposal to require voters to include their driver’s license or other state ID number on their ballot in order to give clerks another way to verify a by-mail ballot. Currently, clerks rely on signature verification.
“Having a driver’s license (number) does two things. I think it adds that security,” McKell said, adding that it could “help us process ballots much, much quicker.”
Adams has repeatedly argued that signature matching is a “subjective process.” Pressed on whether requiring voters to write an ID number on their ballot would be more secure than a signature, Adams said, “Well, maybe you do both.”
In a Deseret News op-ed, Derek Monson, the chief growth officer at the conservative think tank Sutherland Institute, urged lawmakers to change HB300 by requiring a photo ID without mandating in-person voting.
“Splitting this difference could take various forms,” Monsoon wrote. “Voters could be required to include their driver’s license or state ID number along with their signature when mailing in a ballot to strengthen ID provisions.”
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Utah’s top election official, has also been negotiating with lawmakers. In a prepared statement issued to Utah News Dispatch on Friday, she said her office has been “in close communication” with legislators on HB300 and other election-related bills.
“We will continue to collaborate with lawmakers and share our insight and expertise as they consider specific policy changes throughout the remainder of the session,” Henderson said.
Senate leaders also weigh bill to withdraw from voter roll group ERIC
Another election bill has already won approval from the House — but it could also face changes in the Senate.
Along with enacting new requirements on the lieutenant governor to report on efforts to maintain accuracy of voter rolls, HB332 would require Utah to break ties with the national Electronic Registration Information Center, known as ERIC, a nonprofit meant to help states maintain their voter rolls by sharing information across state lines.
“We need to look at that bill,” McKell told reporters Friday, adding that he’s hearing concerns from county clerks.
Utah one step closer to becoming next state to leave voter roll group ERIC
“The one thing the clerks are asking for are more tools, and more help in verifying voter rolls and making sure we’re up to date,” McKell said.
House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, wants Utah to follow in the footsteps of 10 other states that have separated from a national organization that uses voter registration data from 24 member states (plus Washington, D.C.) to help maintain their voter rolls. Instead, she wants the state to partner with other states that have left ERIC.
The nonprofit ERIC used to be noncontroversial — but Republican attitudes toward the program have shifted in recent years, Stateline reported, “with the rise of disinformation surrounding the country’s election systems, fueled by criticism from former President Donald Trump and his allies. Trump falsely claimed that ERIC ‘pumps the rolls’ for Democrats and does nothing to clean them up.”
Last year, that movement touched down in Utah when several Utah Republican county parties passed resolutions urging Utah’s top election officials to end the state’s membership with ERIC. At the time, Henderson posted a thread on X explaining ERIC’s role and describing the attacks against it as nonfactual.
“ERIC has become a favorite boogeyman of the radical election deniers,” Henderson — a Republican — wrote at the time. “But their claims are not based in fact, and their demands are counterproductive to their rhetoric.”
Lisonbee, however, has argued ERIC hasn’t done enough to keep voter rolls clean in and out of Utah.
But Senate leaders seemed hesitant to take voter roll maintenance tools away from clerks. McKell indicated he’d prefer to give clerks more tools rather than take them away.
“Adding tools is always a good thing,” McKell said.
Adams also defended ERIC as an existing tool to maintain Utah’s voter rolls, though he also did not rule out exploring partnerships with other states.
“One thing ERIC does is it coordinates … with other states. That’s a positive thing,” Adams said, though he acknowledged not all states are participating in ERIC, so lawmakers should consider “who’s in, who’s out, what they’re doing, whether ERIC’s it or some other process is it.”
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