H.B. 300

1

ELECTION AND DISCLOSURE LAWS
2 TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS
3 1999 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Sponsor: Loraine T. Pace
6 AN ACT RELATING TO THE ELECTION CODE; MODIFYING THE AFFIDAVIT FOR
7 ABSENTEE BALLOT; CLARIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR EVALUATING A VOTERS'
8 BALLOT CHOICES; CLARIFYING DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS; AND MAKING
9 TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
10 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
11 AMENDS:
12 20A-3-305, as last amended by Chapter 10, Laws of Utah 1996
13 20A-4-105, as last amended by Chapter 24, Laws of Utah 1997
14 20A-9-404, as last amended by Chapter 340, Laws of Utah 1995
15 36-11-202, as last amended by Chapter 192, Laws of Utah 1995
16 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
17 Section 1. Section 20A-3-305 is amended to read:
18 20A-3-305. Mailing of ballot to voter -- Enclose self-addressed envelope -- Affidavit.
19 (1) Upon timely receipt of an absentee voter application properly filled out and signed, or
20 as soon after receipt of the application as the official absentee ballots for the voting precinct in
21 which the applicant resides have been printed, the election officer shall either:
22 (a) give the applicant an official absentee ballot and envelope to vote in the office; or
23 (b) mail an official absentee ballot, postage paid, to the absentee voter and enclose an
24 envelope printed as required in Subsection (2).
25 (2) The election officer shall ensure that:
26 (a) the name, official title, and post office address of the election officer is printed on the
27 front of the envelope; and

28 (b) a printed affidavit in substantially the following form is printed on the back of the
29 envelope:
30 "County of ____ State of ____
31 I, ____, solemnly swear that: I am a resident voter in full possession of my mental faculties,
32 of the ____ voting precinct in ____ County, Utah; I am entitled to vote in that voting precinct at
33 the next election; and I am entitled by law to vote an absentee ballot. I am not a convicted felon
34 currently incarcerated for commission of a felony.
35

______________________________
36

Signature of Absentee Voter"

37 Section 2. Section 20A-4-105 is amended to read:
38 20A-4-105. Standards and requirements for evaluating voter's ballot choices.
39 (1) Each person counting ballots shall apply the standards and requirements of this section
40 to resolve any questions that arise as ballots are counted.
41 (2) [If] Except as provided in Subsection (11), if a voter marks more names than there are
42 persons to be elected to an office, or if for any reason it is impossible to determine the choice of
43 any voter for any office to be filled, the counter may not count that voter's ballot for that office.
44 (3) The counter shall count a defective or incomplete mark on any paper ballot if:
45 (a) it is in the proper place; and
46 (b) there is no other mark or cross on the paper ballot indicating the voter's intent to vote
47 other than as indicated by the defective mark.
48 (4) (a) When the voter has marked the ballot so that it appears that the voter has voted
49 more than one straight ticket, the election judges may not count any votes for party candidates.
50 (b) The election judges shall count the remainder of the ballot if it is voted correctly.
51 (5) A counter may not reject a ballot marked by the voter because of marks on the ballot
52 other than those marks allowed by this section unless the extraneous marks on a ballot or group
53 of ballots show an intent by a person or group to mark their ballots so that their ballots can be
54 identified.
55 (6) (a) In counting the ballots, the counters shall give full consideration to the intent of the
56 voter.
57 (b) The counters may not invalidate a ballot because of mechanical and technical defects
58 in voting or failure on the part of the voter to follow strictly the rules for balloting required by

59 Chapter 3.
60 (7) The counters may not reject a ballot because of any error in:
61 (a) stamping or writing any official endorsement; or
62 (b) delivering the wrong ballots to any polling place.
63 (8) The counter may not count any paper ballot that does not have the official endorsement
64 by an election officer.
65 (9) If the counter discovers that the name of a candidate voted for is misspelled or that the
66 initial letters of a candidate's given name are transposed or omitted in part or altogether, the
67 counter shall count the voter's vote for that candidate if it is apparent that the voter intended to vote
68 for that candidate.
69 (10) The counter shall count a vote for the president and the vice president of any political
70 party as a vote for the presidential electors selected by the political party.
71 (11) In counting the valid write-in votes, if, by casting a valid write-in vote, a voter has
72 cast more votes for an office than that voter is entitled to vote for that office, the judges shall count
73 the valid write-in vote as being the obvious intent of the voter.
74 Section 3. Section 20A-9-404 is amended to read:
75 20A-9-404. Municipal primary elections.
76 (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, candidates for municipal office in all
77 municipalities shall be nominated at a [regular] municipal primary election.
78 (b) [Regular] Municipal primary elections shall be held:
79 (i) on the Tuesday following the first Monday in the October before the regular municipal
80 election; and
81 (ii) whenever possible, at the same polling places as the regular municipal election.
82 (2) If the number of candidates for a particular municipal office does not exceed twice the
83 number of persons needed to fill that office, a primary election for that office may not be held and
84 the candidates are considered nominated.
85 (3) (a) For purposes of this Subsection (3), "convention" means an organized assembly of
86 voters or delegates.
87 (b) (i) By ordinance adopted before the June 1 before a regular municipal election, any
88 third class city or town may exempt itself from a primary election by providing that the nomination
89 of candidates for municipal office to be voted upon at a municipal election be nominated by a

90 political party convention or committee.
91 (ii) Any primary election exemption ordinance adopted under the authority of this
92 subsection remains in effect until repealed by ordinance.
93 (c) (i) A convention or committee may not nominate more than one group of candidates
94 or have placed on the ballot more than one group of candidates for the municipal offices to be
95 voted upon at the municipal election.
96 (ii) A convention or committee may nominate a person who has been nominated by a
97 different convention or committee.
98 (iii) A political party may not have more than one group of candidates placed upon the
99 ballot and may not group the same candidates on different tickets by the same party under a
100 different name or emblem.
101 (d) (i) The convention or committee shall prepare a certificate of nomination for each
102 person nominated.
103 (ii) The certificate of nomination shall:
104 (A) contain the name of the office for which each person is nominated, the name, post
105 office address, and, if in a city, the street number of residence and place of business, if any, of each
106 person nominated;
107 (B) designate in not more than five words the political party that the convention or
108 committee represents;
109 (C) contain a copy of the resolution passed at the convention that authorized the committee
110 to make the nomination;
111 (D) contain a statement certifying that the name of the candidate nominated by the political
112 party will not appear on the ballot as a candidate for any other political party;
113 (E) be signed by the presiding officer and secretary of the convention or committee; and
114 (F) contain a statement identifying the residence and post office address of the presiding
115 officer and secretary and certifying that the presiding officer and secretary were officers of the
116 convention or committee and that the certificates are true to the best of their knowledge and belief.
117 (iii) Certificates of nomination shall be filed with the clerk not later than the sixth Tuesday
118 before the November municipal election.
119 (e) A committee appointed at a convention, if authorized by an enabling resolution, may
120 also make nominations or fill vacancies in nominations made at a convention.

121 (f) The election ballot shall substantially comply with the form prescribed in Title 20A,
122 Chapter 6, Part 4, Ballot Form Requirements for Municipal Elections, but the party name shall be
123 included with the candidate's name.
124 (4) (a) Any third class city may adopt an ordinance before the July 1 before the regular
125 municipal election that:
126 (i) exempts the city from the other methods of nominating candidates to municipal office
127 provided in this section; and
128 (ii) provides for a partisan primary election method of nominating candidates as provided
129 in this Subsection (4) h [ (a)(ii) ] h .
130 (b) (i) Any party that was a registered political party at the last regular general election or
131 regular municipal election is a municipal political party under this section.
132 (ii) Any political party may qualify as a municipal political party by presenting a petition
133 to the city recorder that:
134 (A) is signed by registered voters within the municipality equal to at least 20% of the
135 number of votes cast for all candidates for mayor in the last municipal election at which a mayor
136 was elected;
137 (B) is filed with the city recorder by the seventh Tuesday before the date of the municipal
138 primary election;
139 (C) is substantially similar to the form of the signature sheets described in Section
140 20A-7-303 ; and
141 (D) contains the name of the municipal political party using not more than five words.
142 (c) (i) If the number of candidates for a particular office does not exceed twice the number
143 of offices to be filled at the regular municipal election, no partisan primary election for that office
144 shall be held and the candidates are considered to be nominated.
145 (ii) If the number of candidates for a particular office exceeds twice the number of offices
146 to be filled at the regular municipal election, those candidates for municipal office shall be
147 nominated at a partisan primary election.
148 (d) The clerk shall ensure that:
149 (i) the partisan municipal primary ballot is similar to the ballot forms required by Sections
150 20A-6-201 and 20A-6-202 ;
151 (ii) the candidates for each municipal political party are listed in one or more columns

152 under their party name and emblem;
153 (iii) the names of candidates of all parties are printed on the same ballot, but under their
154 party designation;
155 (iv) every ballot is folded and perforated so as to separate the candidates of one party from
156 those of the other parties and so as to enable the elector to separate the part of the ballot containing
157 the names of the party of his choice from the remainder of the ballot; and
158 (v) the side edges of all ballots are perforated so that the outside sections of the ballots,
159 when detached, are similar in appearance to inside sections when detached.
160 (e) After marking a municipal primary ballot, the voter shall:
161 (i) detach the part of the ballot containing the names of the candidates of the party he has
162 voted from the rest of the ballot;
163 (ii) fold the detached part so that its face is concealed and deposit it in the ballot box; and
164 (iii) fold the remainder of the ballot containing the names of the candidates of the parties
165 for whom the elector did not vote and deposit it in the blank ballot box.
166 (f) Immediately after the canvass, the election judges shall, without examination, destroy
167 the tickets deposited in the blank ballot box.
168 Section 4. Section 36-11-202 is amended to read:
169 36-11-202. Filing of supplemental reports.
170 (1) Each lobbyist, principal, and government officer who makes additional expenditures
171 during a subsequent reporting period shall file a supplemental report with the lieutenant governor
172 containing the same information required in Section 36-11-201 :
173 (a) ten days after the last day of each annual general session, listing all expenditures that
174 were made from January 1 to the last day of the annual general session;
175 (b) seven days before a general election, listing all expenditures as of five days before that
176 were made since the last day of an annual general session; and
177 (c) seven days after the end of a special session or veto override session, listing all
178 expenditures that were made during the special session or veto override session.
179 (2) A supplemental report shall be filed on the next succeeding business day if the date
180 specified in Subsection (1) falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. Any supplemental report
181 shall be considered timely filed if postmarked on its due date.

Legislative Review Note
as of 2-3-99 7:07 AM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel