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5
20A-2-208
20A-2-502
0
Voting Registration Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Trevor Lee
Senate Sponsor: Derrin R. Owens
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses provisions related to voter registration.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
creates a process for an individual to receive a voter registration form and voter
registration information when purchasing a hunting or fishing license; and
permits the lieutenant governor or the legislative auditor general to contract with a
third-party to assist in the review and identification of inaccuracies in the voter
registration database.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
20A-2-502
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapters 381, 448
ENACTS:
20A-2-208
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
20A-2-208
is enacted to read:
20A-2-208
. Voter registration forms and information available at Division of
Wildlife Resources offices.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
"Applicant" means an individual who is:
(i)
seeking to purchase a hunting or fishing license in-person at a Division of Wildlife
Resources office; and
(ii)
eligible to register to vote under Section
20A-2-101
or to preregister to vote under
Section
20A-2-101.1
.
(b)
"Voter registration information" means information provided by the lieutenant
governor, including:
(i)
instructions for registering to vote;
(ii)
voter registration deadlines; and
(iii)
contact information for questions about voter registration.
(2)
The lieutenant governor shall provide voter registration forms and voter registration
information to each Division of Wildlife Resources office.
(3)
(a)
An applicant may receive a voter registration form when purchasing a hunting or
fishing license at a Division of Wildlife Resources office in accordance with this
section.
(b)
A Division of Wildlife Resources office shall:
(i)
provide voter registration forms and voter registration information to the public;
and
(ii)
direct any questions about voter registration to the Office of the Lieutenant
Governor or a county clerk.
(4)
The Division of Wildlife Resources shall provide a link to the state's online voter
registration application to each individual who purchases a hunting or fishing license on
the internet.
Section 2. Section
20A-2-502
is amended to read:
20A-2-502
. Statewide voter registration system -- Maintenance and update of
system -- Record security -- List of incarcerated felons -- Public document showing
compliance by county clerks.
(1)
The lieutenant governor shall:
(a)
develop, manage, and maintain a statewide voter registration system to be used by
county clerks to maintain an updated statewide voter registration database in
accordance with this section and rules made under Section
20A-2-507
;
(b)
except as provided in Subsection
(2)(c)
, regularly update the system with
information relevant to voter registration, as follows:
(i)
on at least a weekly basis, information received from the Driver License Division
in relation to:
(A)
voter registration;
(B)
a registered voter's change of address; or
(C)
a registered voter's change of name;
(ii)
on at least a weekly basis, the information described in Subsection
26B-8-114(11)
from the state registrar, regarding deceased individuals;
(iii)
on at least a monthly basis, the information described in Subsection
(3)
, received
from the Department of Corrections regarding incarcerated individuals;
(iv)
on at least a monthly basis, information received from other states, including
information received under an agreement described in Subsection
(2)
; and
(v)
within 31 calendar days after the day on which the lieutenant governor receives
information relevant to voter registration, other than the information described in
Subsections
(1)(b)(i)
through (iv);
(c)
regularly monitor the system to ensure that each county clerk complies with the
requirements of this part and rules made under Section
20A-2-507
;
(d)
establish matching criteria and security measures for identifying a change described
in Subsection
(1)(b)
to ensure the accuracy of a voter registration record;
(e)
on at least a monthly basis:
(i)
use the matching criteria and security measures described in Subsection
(1)(d)
to
compare information in the database to identify duplicate data, contradictory data,
and changes in data;
(ii)
notify the applicable county clerk of the data identified; and
(iii)
notify the county clerk of the county in which a voter's principal place of
residence is located of a change in a registered voter's principal place of residence
or name;
(f)
before April 1, 2026, develop a procedure to evaluate voter registration based on
addresses to identify potential anomalies, including eight or more voters at a
single-family home address;
(g)
develop procedures to investigate the validity of a voter registration when a ballot
mailed by the county clerk is returned by the post office as undeliverable;
(h)
before June 1, 2026, register with the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements
program, operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security; and
(i)
as part of maintaining the voter registration database, analyze the database at least 90
calendar days before the day of each regular primary election and each regular
general election to ensure the accuracy of the voter registration record, and to inform
county clerks of action needed, by identifying errors in the database, including errors
based on:
(i)
change of incarceration status;
(ii)
the death of a voter;
(iii)
duplicate voters;
(iv)
identical identification numbers used by multiple voters; or
(v)
other reasons identified by the lieutenant governor that would render a voter
ineligible to vote.
(2)
(a)
Subject to Subsection
(2)(b)
, the lieutenant governor may cooperate or enter into
an agreement with a governmental entity or another state to share information and
increase the accuracy of the database.
(b)
For a record shared under Subsection
(2)(a)
, the lieutenant governor shall ensure:
(i)
that the record is only used to maintain the accuracy of the database;
(ii)
compliance with Section
63G-2-206
; and
(iii)
that the record is secure from unauthorized use by employing data encryption or
another similar technology security system.
(c)
The lieutenant governor is not required to comply with an updating requirement
described in Subsection
(1)(b)
to the extent that the person responsible to provide the
information to the lieutenant governor fails to provide the information.
(3)
(a)
The lieutenant governor shall maintain a current list of all incarcerated felons in
Utah.
(b)
The Department of Corrections shall provide the lieutenant governor's office with:
(i)
the name and last-known address of each individual who:
(A)
was convicted of a felony in a Utah state court; and
(B)
is currently incarcerated for commission of a felony; and
(ii)
the name of each convicted felon who has been released from incarceration.
(4)
The lieutenant governor shall seek to enter into an agreement with the federal courts to
provide that, in exchange for receiving information from the state's voter registration list
or from a list maintained by the Driver License Division to use in relation to federal
juries, the federal courts will notify the lieutenant governor or a county clerk when an
individual disclosed from one of the lists is disqualified from jury service due to a
conviction or non-citizenship.
(5)
The lieutenant governor shall maintain on the lieutenant governor's website a document
that:
(a)
describes the utilities and tools within the system that a county clerk is required to
run;
(b)
describes the actions, if any, that a county clerk is required to take in relation to the
results of running a utility or tool;
(c)
lists, by date, the recurring deadlines by which a county clerk must comply with
Subsection
(5)(a)
or (b); and
(d)
indicates, by county:
(i)
whether the county clerk timely complies with each deadline described in
Subsection
(5)(c)
; and
(ii)
if the county clerk fails to timely comply with a deadline described in Subsection
(5)(c)
, whether the county clerk subsequently complies with the deadline and the
date on which the county clerk complies.
(6)
The lieutenant governor or the legislative auditor general may contract with a
third-party that specializes in voter registration maintenance to assist in the review and
identification of inaccuracies in records within the voter registration database, if the
third-party:
(a)
utilizes advanced data analytics to analyze as many data points as possible, including:
(i)
driver license records;
(ii)
property tax records;
(iii)
vital records;
(iv)
Medicaid application records; and
(v)
other relevant records; and
(b)
maintains:
(i)
a primary data center and at least one backup data center in separate geographic
regions;
(ii)
a disaster recovery plan that guarantees complete resumption of service within an
agreed upon time period in the event of a disaster that compromises the
availability of the system; and
(iii)
security measures that comply with standards established by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology.
Section 3.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
2-5-26 9:07 PM