- A Senate committee rejected a House bill that would have ended Utah's contract with the ERIC voter roll system.
- There are dueling bills that would give election oversight to another official in elections involving the lieutenant governor.
- Utah is one of two states that has the governor's running mate also serve as the chief election official.
Lawmakers can’t make up their minds about what role the lieutenant governor should play in cleaning up voter rolls and overseeing gubernatorial elections.
A Senate committee rejected House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee’s comprehensive voter roll cleanup bill on Monday, even after she removed the most controversial provision which would have required the lieutenant governor to end the state’s contract with the Electronic Registration Information Center.
Also on Monday, a different Senate committee gave the go-ahead for a bill that would allow the lieutenant governor to hand off her election oversight authority to the attorney general if a dispute arises in an election that the lieutenant governor is running in.
Three days earlier, the House unanimously passed a separate bill that would allow the creation of a temporary position each election cycle to do the exact same thing if there were questions that needed to be resolved in the lieutenant governor’s race.
Will Utah leave ERIC?
Lisonbee’s bill, HB332, originally would have forced Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson to exit ERIC by July 6, with a list of requirements for entering into an agreement with another state or third-party contractor.
Lisonbee, R-Clearfield framed the bill as a direct response to a December audit that found 1,400 deceased individuals on Utah voter rolls. However, she started working on the bill much earlier when a wave of Republican states left the voter roll management system after it was accused of doubling as a Democratic voter outreach program.
The bill also clarified best practices and outlined new requirements for the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, which is responsible for providing guidance to county clerks. The bill would have required the lieutenant governor to:
- Report every other year to the Legislature on its efforts to maintain the accuracy of voter rolls
- Ensure that voter rolls are compared to death certificate information 90 days before even-year elections and twice in odd-numbered years.
- Register with a federal program that allows states to check an individual’s immigration status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
- Update the voter registration process to ensure that individuals who cannot prove their citizenship do not receive a ballot for state elections.
Despite Lisonbee’s clear concessions to gain Senate approval, there was little explanation given by members of the Senate Business and Labor Standing Committee before they rejected HB332 in a 3-4 vote that hinged on Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Draper, who chimed in at the last minute to vote “no.”
While Lisonbee’s bill will not make it to a Senate floor vote, it is just one of several that would impact the lieutenant governor’s oversight of elections in the state of Utah.
Does the LG have a conflict of interest?
During the 2024 election cycle, former gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman alleged foul play because of a perceived conflict of interest with Henderson, as the state’s chief election officer, overseeing her own reelection as the running mate to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
The Lieutenant Governor’s Office does not administer any elections or count any ballots. All election administration is conducted by county clerks, who are directly elected in partisan races.
This legislative session, there are multiple bills seeking to address concerns about the perceived conflict of interest with the state’s system for election oversight ahead of the 2028 gubernatorial election in which Henderson has been rumored to be a prospective candidate.
On Monday, a Senate committee unanimously approved a bill that would authorize the lieutenant governor to delegate specific oversight responsibilities to one or more county clerks if the governor is seeking reelection or if the lieutenant governor is seeking another office.
The bill would also allow the state attorney general to act with the authority of the lieutenant governor to resolve disputes over election law, determine which records can be released and investigate allegations if there are complaints about the lieutenant governor having a conflict of interest.
The sponsor of SB0341, Election Modifications, Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, told committee members that the bill aims to enhance election confidence while respecting the results of a recent Sutherland Institute survey that found that three-quarters of Utah voters prefer the person who oversees elections to be elected.
“This is one of the least controversial election bills this session,” said McKell, who is the brother-in-law of Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
Another bill, passed unanimously in the House on Friday, would dovetail with McKell’s to remove the lieutenant governor from conflicts of interest.
But the original version of the bill was set to become one of the most controversial election bills of the session.
Will Utah get a new chief election officer?
Rep. Ryan Wilcox’s HB369 initially sought to transfer all election responsibilities from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to a newly created elections director position.
Under the previous version of the bill, the state’s new chief elections officer would be appointed by a committee of five county clerks who had previously been selected by the governor, state auditor and legislative leadership.
After failing to gain consensus among stakeholders across the political spectrum, HB369 was drastically changed.
The bill would now allow the attorney general, auditor and treasurer to appoint an individual to serve “as a conflict of interest election officer” for one election cycle.
The individual must be familiar with state election law but must not be a currently elected official or public employee.
Similar to McKell’s proposal, Wilcox’s bill would allow the temporarily appointed officer to respond with the authority of the lieutenant governor to any controversy in connection to a race in which the governor or lieutenant governor is running.
Looking forward to larger reforms, Wilcox’s bill would also create the temporary “election oversight task force” which would be tasked with recommending changes to the state’s current system of election oversight and administration.
The task force would be comprised of seven members designated by statewide officials, legislative leadership and the Utah Association of Counties.
The Utah Legislature created the office of lieutenant governor in 1976 to replace the secretary of state position.
Utah and Alaska are the only states in the country where the role of chief election official is held by a lieutenant governor.
In 33 states, the chief election official is elected. In the remaining 17 states, and the District of Columbia, the chief election official is appointed by the governor, state legislature or a board or commission.
