Download Zipped Introduced WordPerfect SB0011.ZIP
[Status][Bill Documents][Fiscal Note][Bills Directory]

S.B. 11

             1     

INITIATIVE PETITIONS AMENDMENTS

             2     
2005 GENERAL SESSION

             3     
STATE OF UTAH

             4     
Sponsor: Beverly Ann Evans

             5     
             6      LONG TITLE
             7      General Description:
             8          This bill establishes uniform standards for signature verification on initiative petitions.
             9      Highlighted Provisions:
             10          This bill:
             11          .    establishes uniform standards for determining whether a signer's signature on an
             12      initiative petition is valid or not; and
             13          .    provides for the placement of birth date information on initiative petitions.
             14      Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
             15          None
             16      Other Special Clauses:
             17          None
             18      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             19      AMENDS:
             20          20A-7-203, as last amended by Chapter 90, Laws of Utah 2004
             21          20A-7-206, as last amended by Chapter 3, Laws of Utah 2000
             22      ENACTS:
             23          20A-7-206.3, Utah Code Annotated 1953
             24     
             25      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             26          Section 1. Section 20A-7-203 is amended to read:
             27           20A-7-203. Form of initiative petition and signature sheets.


             28          (1) (a) Each proposed initiative petition shall be printed in substantially the following
             29      form:
             30          "INITIATIVE PETITION To the Honorable ____, Lieutenant Governor:
             31          We, the undersigned citizens of Utah, respectfully demand that the following proposed
             32      law be submitted to the legal voters/Legislature of Utah for their/its approval or rejection at the
             33      regular general election/session to be held/ beginning on _________(month\day\year);
             34          Each signer says:
             35          I have personally signed this petition;
             36          I am registered to vote in Utah or intend to become registered to vote in Utah before the
             37      certification of the petition names by the county clerk; and
             38          My residence and post office address are written correctly after my name.
             39          NOTICE TO SIGNERS:
             40          Public hearings to discuss this petition were held at: (list dates and locations of public
             41      hearings.)"
             42          (b) The sponsors of an initiative shall attach a copy of the proposed law to each
             43      initiative petition.
             44          (2) Each signature sheet shall:
             45          (a) be printed on sheets of paper 8-1/2 inches long and 11 inches wide;
             46          (b) be ruled with a horizontal line 3/4 inch from the top, with the space above that line
             47      blank for the purpose of binding;
             48          (c) contain the title of the initiative printed below the horizontal line;
             49          (d) contain the word "Warning" printed or typed at the top of each signature sheet
             50      under the title of the initiative;
             51          (e) contain, to the right of the word "Warning," the following statement printed or
             52      typed in not less than eight-point, single leaded type:
             53          "It is a class A misdemeanor for anyone to sign any initiative petition with any other
             54      name than his own, or knowingly to sign his name more than once for the same measure, or to
             55      sign an initiative petition when he knows he is not a registered voter and knows that he does
             56      not intend to become registered to vote before the certification of the petition names by the
             57      county clerk."; and
             58          (f) be vertically divided into columns as follows:


             59          (i) the first column shall appear at the extreme left of the sheet, be 5/8 inch wide, be
             60      headed with "For Office Use Only," and be subdivided with a light vertical line down the
             61      middle with the left subdivision entitled "Registered" and the right subdivision left untitled;
             62          (ii) the next column shall be [three] 2-1/2 inches wide, headed "Registered Voter's
             63      Printed Name (must be legible to be counted)";
             64          (iii) the next column shall be [three] 2-1/2 inches wide, headed "Signature of
             65      Registered Voter"; [and]
             66           (iv) the next column shall be one inch wide, headed "Birth Date"; and
             67          [(iv)] (v) the final column shall be 4-3/8 inches wide, headed "Street Address, City, Zip
             68      Code".
             69          (3) The final page of each initiative packet shall contain the following printed or typed
             70      statement:
             71          "Verification
             72          State of Utah, County of ____
             73          I, _______________, of ____, hereby state that:
             74          I am a resident of Utah and am at least 18 years old;
             75          All the names that appear in this packet were signed by persons who professed to be the
             76      persons whose names appear in it, and each of them signed his name on it in my presence;
             77          I believe that each has printed and signed his name and written his post office address
             78      and residence correctly, and that each signer is registered to vote in Utah or intends to become
             79      registered to vote before the certification of the petition names by the county clerk.
             80          I have not paid or given anything of value to any person who signed this petition to
             81      encourage that person to sign it.    
             82      ________________________________________________________________________
             83          (Name) (Residence Address) (Date)"
             84          (4) The forms prescribed in this section are not mandatory, and, if substantially
             85      followed, the initiative petitions are sufficient, notwithstanding clerical and merely technical
             86      errors.
             87          Section 2. Section 20A-7-206 is amended to read:
             88           20A-7-206. Submitting the initiative petition -- Certification of signatures by the
             89      county clerks -- Transfer to lieutenant governor.


             90          (1) In order to qualify an initiative petition for placement on the regular general
             91      election ballot, the sponsors shall deliver each signed and verified initiative packet to the
             92      county clerk of the county in which the packet was circulated by the June 1 before the regular
             93      general election.
             94          (2) No later than June 15 before the regular general election, the county clerk shall:
             95          (a) check the names of all persons completing the verification for the initiative packet
             96      to determine whether or not those persons are residents of Utah and are at least 18 years old;
             97      and
             98          (b) submit the name of each of those persons who is not a Utah resident or who is not
             99      at least 18 years old to the attorney general and county attorney.
             100          (3) No later than July 1 before the regular general election, the county clerk shall:
             101          (a) [check all the names of the signers against the official registers to] determine
             102      whether or not [the] each signer is a registered voter according to the requirements of Section
             103      20A-7-206.3 ;
             104          (b) certify on the petition whether or not each name is that of a registered voter; and
             105          (c) deliver all of the packets to the lieutenant governor.
             106          (4) In order to qualify an initiative petition for submission to the Legislature, the
             107      sponsors shall deliver each signed and verified initiative packet to the county clerk of the
             108      county in which the packet was circulated by the November 15 before the annual general
             109      session of the Legislature.
             110          (5) No later than December 1 before the annual general session of the Legislature, the
             111      county clerk shall:
             112          (a) check the names of all persons completing the verification for the initiative packet
             113      to determine whether or not those persons are Utah residents and are at least 18 years old; and
             114          (b) submit the name of each of those persons who is not a Utah resident or who is not
             115      at least 18 years old to the attorney general and county attorney.
             116          (6) No later than December 15 before the annual general session of the Legislature, the
             117      county clerk shall:
             118          (a) [check all the names of the signers against the official registers to] determine
             119      whether or not [the] each signer is a registered voter according to the requirements of Section
             120      20A-7-206.3 ;


             121          (b) certify on the petition whether or not each name is that of a registered voter; and
             122          (c) deliver all of the packets to the lieutenant governor.
             123          (7) Initiative packets are public once they are delivered to the county clerks.
             124          (8) The sponsor or their representatives may not retrieve initiative packets from the
             125      county clerks once they have submitted them.
             126          Section 3. Section 20A-7-206.3 is enacted to read:
             127          20A-7-206.3. Verification of petition signatures.
             128          (1) (a) For the purposes of this section, "substantially similar name" means:
             129          (i) the given name and surname shown on the petition, or both, contain only minor
             130      spelling differences when compared to the given name and surname shown on the official
             131      register;
             132          (ii) the surname shown on the petition exactly matches the surname shown on the
             133      official register, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown is a
             134      commonly used abbreviation or variation of the other;
             135          (iii) the surname shown on the petition exactly matches the surname shown on the
             136      official register, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown is
             137      accompanied by a first or middle initial or a middle name which is not shown on the other
             138      record; or
             139          (iv) the surname shown on the petition exactly matches the surname shown on the
             140      official register, and the given names differ only because one of the given names shown is an
             141      alphabetically corresponding initial that has been provided in the place of a given name shown
             142      on the other record.
             143           (b) For the purposes of this section, "substantially similar name" does not mean a
             144      name having an initial or a middle name shown on the petition that does not match a different
             145      initial or middle name shown on the official register.
             146          (2) The county clerk shall use the following procedures in determining whether or not a
             147      signer is a registered voter:
             148          (a) When a signer's name and address shown on the petition exactly match a name and
             149      address shown on the official register, the county clerk shall declare the signature valid.
             150          (b) When there is no exact match of an address and a name, the county clerk shall
             151      declare the signature valid if the address on the petition matches the address of a person on the


             152      official register with a substantially similar name.
             153          (c) When there is no match of an address and a substantially similar name, the county
             154      clerk shall declare the signature valid if the birth date on the petition matches the birth date of a
             155      person on the official register with a substantially similar name.
             156          (d) If a signature is not declared valid under Subsection (2)(a), (2)(b), or (2)(c), the
             157      county clerk shall declare the signature to be invalid.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 12-7-04 8:42 AM


Based on a limited legal review, this legislation has not been determined to have a high
probability of being held unconstitutional.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


Interim Committee Note
    as of 12-08-04 10:24 AM


The Government Operations Interim Committee recommended this bill.


[Bill Documents][Bills Directory]